


triad

by mcshinwon



Category: Pentagon (Korea Band)
Genre: Heavy Angst, Nonbinary!Kino, Polyamory, Smut, other members are mentioned
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2021-03-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:00:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 28,646
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28090545
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mcshinwon/pseuds/mcshinwon
Summary: what do an accidental murderer, a kleptomaniac, and a guy who’s been kicked out of his family home all have in common? not a whole lot, but it doesn’t matter because they’re stuck together and have to make the most of it.this is *vaguely* inspired by 365 fresh lmao
Relationships: Kang Hyunggu | Kino/Ko Shinwon/Lee Hwitaek | Hui
Comments: 23
Kudos: 47





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> i’m back with another huiwonki wip even though i already have like two other in progress fics,,,, so updates will probs be irregular but anyways,,

Shinwon had many talents: he could sing, he wasn’t half-bad at guitar, he could pick a lock, and he could hotwire a car without setting off its alarm. What he couldn’t do for the life of him was lie, and really, he never thought his inability to lie would put his life at risk. He didn’t think his inability to lie would lead to him standing in the middle of his room as his roommate bled out on the carpet. The other man was still, and Shinwon didn’t have to check for a pulse to know he was dead. He’d heard the sickening crack when he’d pushed him off of him, sending him flying into the sharp edge of their table. There was too much blood and there was no way he’d be able to get the stain out of the carpet. He supposed he should probably have felt something, but he was numb. His ears were ringing and he was still struggling to catch his breath. If it hadn’t been his roommate, it would have been him. It was self defense. His roommate had been trying to stab him, for fuck’s sake, and he’d managed to graze Shinwon’s cheek before he’d knocked the knife out of his hand, sending it flying across the room and under their futon. The cut stung, but Shinwon was barely aware of it. 

He had a dead body in the middle of his dorm room, and there was no feasible way he would be able to drag said body down three flights of stairs without being noticed. He was sure somebody had heard their struggle, anyways, because both of them had been shouting. Besides, there were witnesses. Very drunk, but still witnesses. The whole thing had started when his roommate had strolled into their dorm with a pair of girls, trying to get Shinwon to ‘let loose’, but when it became clear that Shinwon had no interest, it had turned into his roommate calling him slurs and telling him he deserved to die. Maybe it wouldn’t have gone south so quickly if Shinwon hadn’t reacted, but the mark had hit and it hurt like hell. He thought he’d run from all of that pain when he left home for college, but it didn’t matter where he went because there was nowhere he’d truly be safe. Both of the girls had run from the room when his roommate had swung the first punch, and if it weren’t for the fact that they were drunk well past their limits, they’d have probably called the police. He wouldn’t have been surprised if one of his neighbors had made a call, though. 

“What the heck,” he muttered under his breath. He had to get out of there before somebody showed up to check on things. He’d never hidden a body before and the blood had formed a stain that was too big for him to hide. There was no point in trying because his fingerprints were most certainly all over the guy. Instead, he stepped over it, reaching for the keys to their room and his wallet, shoving the latter in his pocket and turning off the light before stepping into the hall and locking the door behind him. The hallway outside was dim. It was late enough in the night that most of the students were in their rooms, asleep for the night, and it was a weekend which meant that at least half of them were probably away. Maybe nobody had heard him, after all. Maybe he still had a chance to get away. 

His heart plummeted when he heard footsteps in the hallway. Had the cops already showed up? The footsteps were quiet, though, and he saw the familiar figure of his neighbor making his way down the hallway, sleepily rubbing at his eyes and adjusting his grip on his bag. He held a stack of books in one arm and if Shinwon had to guess, he’d probably come from the library.

“What the hell happened to you?” He asked, instead of greeting him. Shinwon’s hand flew to the cut on his cheek. He wondered if he had a black eye. He probably did, from the way his face ached, but he hadn’t gotten a chance to look in the mirror.

“Oh, you know, just a bar fight,” he laughed, shrugging nonchalantly.

“Yeah. Right. You in a bar fight.”

“You caught me,” Shinwon said, holding up his hands and smiling weakly. “I fell down like a solid flight of stairs. You know the ones on the south side of the building? They’re frozen solid… don’t take them.”

Jinho raised an eyebrow. “You’ve been clumsy since day one, Shinwon. But I’ll make sure to remember that,” he sighed. Then he made his way past him to push into his own dorm. Shinwon shrugged again, before making his way down the way Jinho had come. 

“Good night, man.”

“Don’t forget about the Econ exam Monday,” Jinho said, and then his door shut behind him. Shit, he’d completely forgotten about that exam, but then he had the dawning realization that one exam was the last thing he should be concerned about. He wouldn’t be in class for that exam, and he wasn’t sure if he’d be in class ever again. He took a deep breath, willing his mind to clear, and then he continued down the hall, turning into the stairwell and making his way down the three flights. Outside, it was cold and overcast. He hoped it wouldn’t snow. The bomber jacket he was clad in was only so warm, and although he was usually a warm person, the idea of being caught in a blizzard with only a leather bomber to protect him wasn’t very appealing. The street was quiet and he could clearly hear the sound of someone laughing through an open window behind him, and somewhere else, music blasting from someone’s apartment. The wind was loudly whipping through the buildings, and it stung his nose and made the cut on his cheek prickle. He needed to go somewhere, but he wasn’t sure where he’d even go. Sighing, he made his way towards the main street of campus. It was late, but buses were still running, so he supposed he’d start by catching one of them. What he’d do after he got on the bus, he didn’t know, but he couldn’t bring himself to worry.

A girl was already sitting at the bus stop and she barely spared Shinwon a glance, putting her earbuds in and turning up her music as she continued to type away on her phone. Even though there was plenty of space on the bench, he opted to stand off to the side. He didn’t want to be in her space, and he was sure he looked shady as it was with his beaten up face. He hadn’t grabbed his phone when he left and he wasn’t wearing a watch so he had no way of knowing whether five minutes or a half an hour had passed by the time the bus creaked to a stop in front of them. He let the girl climb on first before following, swiping his bus pass and then taking a seat at the back of the bus by a half eaten bag of chips. Other than the girl and the bus driver, the only other person on the bus was an old man clad in work clothes who was arguing with someone over the phone. Shinwon crossed his arms and sunk into the back corner of his seat, letting his eyelids flutter shut. He wouldn’t sleep, because he didn’t want to get kicked off of the bus, but he needed everything to just stop for a moment. Whatever had happened at his apartment had felt like the end of the world, but the world was very much still moving and he didn’t know what to make of any of it. Maybe it had been self defense, but he was still a murderer. Shinwon, who didn’t want to so much as harm a butterfly, had killed a man. And now he was sitting on a bus with a painful gash on his cheek. 

He climbed off of the bus after about seven stops, finding himself standing downtown. It was late, but the streets were busier here because people were out at bars or clubbing. A couple of higher end restaurants were even still open. Shinwon sighed, kicking a stone before making his way toward one of the bars. Perhaps nobody had called the cops after all and he was safe for the time being. Obviously, locking the door to his dorm wasn’t a permanent solution, but as people walked past him and the bus pulled away, he had the dawning realization that he was just as insignificant as ever. Nobody so much as spared him a glance. 

The bar he stepped into was also higher end and he stood out like a sore thumb. The guy at the door gave him a skeptical look, but let him in after checking his ID, and Shinwon ended up sitting at a stool up the bar. He didn’t like alcohol but he wanted to feel something other than the numbing dread he’d gotten accustomed to over the past however-long-it’d-been. The bartender handed him a menu that showed the drinks they had on tap on one side and cocktails and wines on the other side. If he wanted to get drunk, he supposed he should probably go for one of the fruity cocktails- the kind that tasted like juice and could fool you into thinking you weren’t poisoning yourself. The prices normally might have bothered him, but things were already as bad as they could be. He didn’t think dropping a few dollars on a cocktail when he’d probably be arrested any second would make much of a difference. At least, when the cops inevitably found him, he might be drunk enough that he’d be blissed out. 

He ordered his drink before handing the bartender his ID and his credit card, and then he let his eyes wander around the bar. He had no idea what the hell type of a place he’d walked into, because he didn’t consider their town to be rich by any means but the place reeked of both old and new money. The patrons of the bar looked around with vicious gazes, as if they were sizing everyone and everything up. At a corner, a group of men were playing cards. Three of them were clad in various expensive looking suits, while the fourth was in a silk shirt with a jacket nowhere to be found. Shinwon didn’t like gambling, but he knew how to play plenty of card games and he had a good enough eye to know that the man in the silk shirt was cheating. He was doing a good job of being subtle about it, but Shinwon felt fear prickling through him at the sight. He drew his eyes away from the group, not wanting to get caught staring, and he took his card and ID from the bartender as they set his drink in front of him. He took a sip from it and hummed. He didn’t know what he’d ordered but it didn’t matter because it tasted good and it left a pleasant buzz as he swallowed it. When he finished it, he ordered a second drink, and after that, a third. He closed his tab as he ordered the third drink, knowing that his total was probably outrageous, and he was right. He didn’t care though, and he took his last drink with a smile. His cut didn’t hurt anymore- or maybe it still did, he wasn’t entirely sure. The room around him felt like it was glowing and he was barely aware of the sound of music or people talking about him as he swallowed the drink. 

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, almost spitting out his drink, and then he turned to see the man with the silk shirt from before. He had a dazzling grin and a very expensive looking watch on his wrist. “Mind if I join you?” He asked, and his voice was high and smooth. Shinwon nodded dumbly. He wasn’t sure if he could form a coherent reply, but he eyed the watch, trying to see what time it was. The man moved his hand, though, reaching into his pocket to pull out his wallet before ordering a drink for himself. 

“What… what time is it?” He managed to ask. The man turned to stare at him with a raised eyebrow, but then he shrugged.

“Half past midnight. What happened to you, by the way?”

“My roommate tried to kill me,” Shinwon said. He wasn’t sure if it was the alcohol or if it was something about the stranger or if it was simply his inability to lie. 

“Ouch. At least you made it out, right? Tell you something, let me finish my drink, and then you can come home with me. We can get that scratch cleaned up and then you won’t have to worry about finding a place.”

“Sure,” Shinwon said. He didn’t know this man, and given the bar they were in, he wouldn’t be surprised if he owned a fancy loft or mansion or something, but it didn’t matter. He was drunk, he needed a place to go, and he couldn’t even worry about the man being a possible murderer because that would have been hypocritical. “What’s your name?” 

“Hui. And you are?”

“Shinwon.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Shinwon,” Hui said, reaching to shake his hand. His grip was firm and his watch twinkled in the light. Something about his grip sent a jolt down Shinwon’s spine, but just as quickly, the other man was letting go, turning to take his drink and cards from the bartender and taking a slow drink. “So, what brings you to this specific bar? Usually people don’t just end up here on accident.”

He shrugged. “I left and I had to get away from my place. I just jumped on the bus and got off at a random stop. Now I’m here.”

“What about your roommate? Won’t they be looking for you?”

“Are you always so nosy?” Shinwon snapped. Hui flinched, but just as quickly, he was smiling again. “No. He won’t be looking for me, I can promise you that.” 

“I’m not usually nosy. Just trying to find out who I just offered a place to stay is all.” 

“Well, if you were worried about what type of person I might be, you shouldn’t have invited me in the first place,” Shinwon said, his voice cold. He didn’t have the energy to be interrogated and while he was usually good at keeping his calm, the alcohol had made him snappier than usual. 

“I suppose you’re right,” Hui said, reaching out and patting him on the thigh before lifting his glass to his lips. The touch was deliberate and Shinwon wanted more. He fought the urge to reach out and grip the other’s knee. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to fight him or grab him by the hair and kiss him. Maybe it was a bit of both and the alcohol did plenty to blend those lines. “Let’s get outa here,” he said, setting his empty glass on the bar and reaching for Shinwon’s hand. He took it willingly, letting Hui pull him up. The room spun around him. He’d known he’d drunk a lot, but standing up only made it that much more obvious. He followed after Hui as he led him outside, watching as he nodded at the guys he’d been playing cards with on the way out. They smiled at him, but there was a venom in their smiles that made Shinwon feel on edge. He looked away from them, following Hui down the block and into a parking garage. 

“Should you even be driving?”

“I had one cider. It takes a bit more than that to make me drunk. I’d have waited longer, but I pissed off those guys so I wasn’t eager to.”

“Oh, because you were cheating?”

“You caught that, huh? They’re mad because I won, but for both of our sake let’s hope they didn’t catch me cheating,” Hui said, chuckling as he climbed into a car. It was shiny and silver and nicer than any vehicle Shinwon had been in in his life. “Try not to get sick in my car.”

“I’m drunk, but not that drunk,” Shinwon huffed as he opened the door and climbed into the passenger seat. Hui had dice hanging on his mirror but other than that, the car was almost empty and it was spotless. It looked like it had been driven maybe a total of one time, if that. 

Hui backed out of his spot before directing the car out of the parking garage. Shinwon’s stomach lurched, and it wasn’t because he was too drunk but because Hui was whipping around the curves of the structure a bit fast for comfort. He silently thanked God when they reached the bottom level and made it onto the road, although he wasn’t too sure God was looking out for him anymore. He was pretty sure all he had was himself and the stranger he’d climbed in the car with.

For some time, they drove in silence, the only sound being the blinker as Hui hit it and then the wipers that he turned on when it finally began to snow. Shinwon was thankful that he’d found someone to crash with so that he wouldn’t be caught in a blizzard, but that relief slipped away as he glanced in the rear view mirror. There was a car following them, and he’d noticed it a while back, but it was closer now. Close enough that Shinwon could clearly make out the features of the men in the vehicle. “Hui…”

“I know,” he said, and his voice no longer held the same lightness as it had before. Shinwon could hear the accelerator humming as Hui sped up, but he’d already been speeding to begin with. The car behind them was faster and Shinwon winced, shutting his eyes just before it rammed into the back of Hui’s car. The impact was hard and given how icy the roads already were, Hui’s car went spinning, tires screeching as they struggled and failed to grip onto the road. His stomach lurched and he clenched his jaw as he tried not to bite down on his tongue when the car tumbled into a ditch. His body slammed against the seatbelt and he was thankful he’d thought to put it on, but it knocked the wind out of his lungs. He didn’t have the time to recover, though, because Hui was yelling and pulling him out of the car. 

“We have to go, now.” 

Shinwon said nothing as Hui’s hand wrapped around his wrist, pulling him down the street. The other car hadn’t fared too well from the impact either, and smoke was coming out of the hood. The men exited it, cursing, and then Shinwon heard them shouting. Hui yanked him to the side harshly, just as a deafening roar filled the air. 

“They have guns!?” Shinwon shouted.

“Yes, and unless you keep running, we’re both gonna get killed,” Hui shouted back, dragging Shinwon away from the street and into the woods. Shinwon could hear footfalls behind them and more shouting. More shots filled the air, but none of them hit home. The snow was falling harder now and it was a miracle that neither of them had slipped, but the roughness of the ground they were now running across helped some. The trees around them helped conceal them, making them harder to shoot at, but the men hadn’t given up yet. Shinwon could still hear their shouts and threats. He was fairly certain one of them had said something about feeding them to their dogs, which only motivated Shinwon to run faster. In hindsight, he still couldn’t be sure whether that had been a good choice or not because as he took his next step, he slid, bringing both him and Hui tumbling down a hill and towards a different street. The shouting dropped away as they fell over each other, cursing in pain, and then they finally landed on flat ground. Except said ground wasn’t just ground and there was a different car speeding towards them. 

Shinwon held up a hand to shield his face as if that would do him a lick of good, but Hui yanked him out of the way in the same moment that the driver slammed on their breaks, tires screeching. Somehow, they managed not to spin off the road completely. Shinwon and Hui looked at each other for a long moment, and then their ears picked up the shouting of the men as they appeared over the crest of the hill. “Go, go go,” Shinwon said, pushing Hui up. The two of them scrambled to the stranger’s car, climbing into the back seat.

“What the-“

“Go,” Hui shouted, and in the same moment, a gunshot hit the side of the car. 


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tws for this chapter include contemplating suicide, transphobia, and homophobia, although nothing is really described in great detail !!

Kino had his father’s car, but he didn’t have a plan as he drove down the road recklessly. He knew he should probably slow down - it’d begun to snow, after all - but he couldn’t bring himself to care. None of it mattered anymore because he was sure his father had already called the cops and let them know that his broken  _ son  _ had stolen his car. While he didn’t particularly mind being referred to with masculine terms like son or boy or man, there was a certain condescension in the way his father used them that made it clear that he’d never see him for who he truly was. He hadn’t told his parents for so long because he knew it’d result in him not having a home, but in the end it wasn’t his choice and he was outed by one of his classmates. 

So now his parents resented him and thought he was a freak and he had a car but no plan. Maybe he should just drive the damned vehicle off a bridge. Then his father will have lost both his son and his beloved car in the same night. Kino laughed to himself, tears forming in his eyes. He knew that his father would be more pissed off about the car than anything. 

He sped up, turning on his wipers as the snow started to fall heavier, and then he glanced down for a moment to turn on the radio. It was on a talk station, and he switched it to a rock station, turning up the volume. When he looked back up, there were two men stumbling in the middle of the road with dazed expressions on their faces and - what the hell? He slammed on his breaks, swerving to avoid hitting them and thanking whoever was watching over him that he didn’t run either of them over. He didn’t have time to recover before he saw them push themselves to their feet and then heard the doors to his car swing open.

“What the-“

“Go,” one of them shouted, and in the same moment, a gunshot hit the side of the car.

“Who the hell are you people,” Kino shouted, but he didn’t need the stranger to tell him twice as he pressed his foot on the accelerator. The engine revved as the car struggled to find grip on the ice, but then they were driving away as several more gunshots flew into the side of the car. At least he didn’t have to drive it off of a bridge for it to be wrecked. 

The taller of the pair was craning his neck to look out the back window, and the shorter took a hand to his head, pushing him down just as another bullet shattered through the window. Kino flinched and cursed, trying not to swerve, but then the gunshots died down. The men in the back seat sighed in relief. “This is not how I wanted tonight to go,” the shorter one sighed.

“Agreed,” Kino said in unison with the taller man. They met eyes through the rear view mirror and he wondered what sort of mess he’d just gotten roped into. It didn’t matter, because now he had two strangers in the back of his car and no idea where he was even going in the first place. He supposed he should probably find a motel, but he didn’t have any money. He was completely screwed over. 

“Thanks for the lift. I’m Hui,” the shorter man said, grinning at Kino with a crazed expression. 

“Not like you guys gave me much of a choice. What the hell was that?”

“I cheated those guys…” Hui said, shrugging. He didn’t look like he regretted it at all. Great, he was in the car with a crazy person, but then again, he’d been considering driving off of a bridge so he wasn’t in any position to judge. “But it’s fine. We got away.”

“And what the hell am I supposed to do with you?”

“You don’t happen to have a place we could lay lo-“

“No. This car is all I have. I was kicked out. I’m sure my asshole father is gonna be sending someone to look for me, though.”

“Why would he try to find you if he kicked you out,” the taller man asked, looking at Kino in confusion. His words were slightly slurred and Kino fought the urge to snap at him. 

“It’s a long story,” Kino sighed. He didn’t feel like going into detail about his life story with two strangers, because for all he knew, they might pull something if they found out anything about him. 

The taller man said nothing in response to that, instead sighing and leaning his head back. “Well… I have enough money that we can get a motel room. We’ll probably wanna ditch your car though, because if your dad isn’t looking for you, those guys that were chasing us will find a way to track you down,” Hui said. 

“I know how to hotwire a car,” the taller man blurted.

“Why do you know how to- never mind,” Kino sighed. Yup, this was definitely a bad decision. “What’s your name?”

“Shinwon. You?”

“Call me Kino,” he sighed. Now that he thought about it, he was fairly certain he’d seen Shinwon before. He was pretty sure he was a student at their local university, but Kino didn’t know much about it because he’d dropped out after a semester. His father had been pissed and hadn’t let him hear the end of it. Even earlier that night, he’d brought it up. Kino pushed the thoughts of his father to the back of his mind. It didn’t matter anymore. 

“That’s a really pretty name. It suits you,” Shinwon said, smiling. Kino refused to meet his eyes in the mirror because he could definitely feel his cheeks heating up. Great, he was in a car with strangers and they were not only most certainly insane, but they were also flirts. He wasn’t sure he’d survive the night.

“Okay. Say we find a car and you get it running. I have no idea where the hell we even are anymore. I’ll need someone else to tell me where to go, and even then, what are we supposed to do after?”

“I dunno. I don’t wanna think about it,” Shinwon sighed, burying his head in his hands. “This night has been one disaster after another.”

“What, were those guys after you too?”

Shinwon gave a cold laugh. “No. Hui just offered me a place to stay and they followed him. I…” he trailed off, and Kino watched as his eyes went glassy as he stared down at his hands. Even though he was just looking through the rear view mirror, he could still see that they were shaking. “I did something that I can’t take back.”

“Shinwon… what you told me earlier… I thought you were joking around, but you weren’t, were you?” Hui spoke, his voice steady. Kino didn’t like the tone he had. It was unnerving and he wasn’t sure what Shinwon had told Hui earlier, but he wasn’t sure that he wanted to know either. It didn’t sound good.

“No…”

“Is he… you know…”

“You don’t have to sugarcoat it for me. He’s dead,” Shinwon said. Kino heard him give a weak laugh and glanced up in the rear view mirror for long enough to see Shinwon rake a shaky hand through his hair. “You guys aren’t obligated to drive me around or take me anywhere. It’ll just be more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Shinwon… Hey, Shinwon… look at me,” Hui said, his voice firm. Kino heard Shinwon sniffle in the backseat and - Christ, was he crying? “It’s not your fault. I don’t know what happened, but if you said he tried to kill you, then it was self defense, yeah? Besides, I was in trouble long before I ever met you.”

“I’m sorry, uh, hate to interrupt, but you killed someone?” Kino asked, incredulous as he forced himself to train his eyes on the road again. The snow was falling even heavier now, and they’d need to find a place to go sooner rather than later because it was almost a whiteout and Kino wasn’t too sure how he felt about spending the night trapped in his car with a stranger that’d just been being shot at and another stranger who’d apparently murdered someone. 

“I didn’t want to,” Shinwon said. He sounded as tired as Kino felt.

“No, I’m sorry but I need you to elaborate more than that. I’m the one driving you, after all,” Kino said, trying to keep his voice firm. 

“My roommate tried to kill me when he found out I wasn’t straight, okay? He came at me with a knife and I had to wrestle him off of me. I ended up knocking his head into a table and I left him bleeding out on the floor of our dorm. Is that what you wanted to hear? Happy now?”

The shot landed and Kino sucked in a breath. “I… I’m sorry.” His words hung in the air because he didn’t know what else he  _ could  _ say. He could have just as easily been caught in the same situation. Hell, part of the reason he’d dropped out so quickly was because his roommate had been blatantly homophobic and he didn’t feel safe. He’d tried asking the housing office about moving to a different dorm, but they didn’t find his worries about his safety to be valid enough. He already wasn’t passionate about what he was studying, so when his parents bombarded him with questions, he just said that it wasn’t the right route for him. He’d been careful about his queerness in terms of both gender and sexuality, and he’d thought he’d done a good job in only confiding in people who were trustworthy, but look at where that had gotten him. 

“There should be a few stores and a motel up here. We can find a car and ditch this one, but we’ll wanna drive for a little longer before we find a place to stay for the night,” Hui said, breaking the tense quiet. “If you don’t wanna drive in the snow, I can take over for you.”

“Okay,” Kino said. Soon enough, they came upon a strip mall and a couple of motels. It was nothing crazy but hopefully they’d be able to find a car that Shinwon could hotwire, assuming that he’d been being honest and not just messing with them. Something told Kino that the other wasn’t lying though. He looked exhausted and stressed, but there was an unshakable honesty in his gaze. He might have been a murderer but he certainly wasn’t a liar. Kino would at least give him that. 

“None of these ones,” Shinwon said softly as Kino pulled into a parking lot. “They’re all too new. It has to be an older model.” 

“What about that one?” Hui pointed towards the end of the parking lot where a sedan was parked. It was silver and it had a dent in the back, but it looked like it was in reasonable repair. Shinwon stared at it for a moment as Kino drove closer to it, but then he nodded. They were damn lucky that it was late, because Kino had no idea how to not act suspicious, Hui was loud, and Shinwon was drunk. He resented the idea of having to rely on a drunk man, but it wasn’t like he had many other options. 

“That’ll do,” he said after a moment. Kino moved to park his father’s car next to it, and then Shinwon peeled himself from the back seat to walk up to the other car. The snow had let up some and it was gently falling from the sky in fat fluffy flakes, but the wind had picked up and it bit at Kino’s skin almost immediately as Hui climbed out of the other side of the back seat. “Huh. Would you look at that,” Shinwon said, frowning. 

“What?” Kino asked, joining the other two outside.

“I thought I’d have to break a window to get in, but it was already unlocked. Maybe God doesn’t hate me after all.”

“Don’t be ridiculous, we’re stealing this car you idiot. I don’t think he’s the one looking out for you right now,” Hui huffed, rubbing at his arms. That earned a glare from Shinwon, but he said nothing, opening the door the rest of the way before crouching down and setting to work. For a moment, Kino and Hui both stood behind him, craning their heads as they watched him fiddle to get a panel loose, but then he swatted them away. “I can’t focus with you guys up my ass.” The panel came off and the wiring was exposed. The pair of them lingered for another moment, watching as he began looking through the wiring with thin fingers, but then Kino sighed and backed away.

“I’m gonna check if my father left anything useful in his car,” he said, before making his way to the trunk of the vehicle. 

“I’ll come too,” Hui said, as if he were going more than a few feet away. It didn’t matter, because his presence did some to calm Kino down. It didn’t matter that they were strangers because Kino had never liked being alone and he was rather jumpy if he was out by himself late at night. Maybe it was partially due to his paranoia, but considering the fact that Shinwon wasn’t straight and Hui didn’t seem to mind, he felt more at ease. 

“My father kicked me out because I’m nonbinary. This is his car. I just stole it out of spite,” Kino said quietly, pulling the trunk open and looking at the contents.

“Sorry you got kicked out, but I’m glad you appeared when you did. Otherwise, I’m sure both me and Shinwon would be long dead,” Hui said, laughing softly. “Your dad sounds like a real asshole.”

“He is, but he’s usually paranoid enough to be prepared for emergencies,” Kino sighed, reaching for a bag that had a toolbox as well as a few other car repair items that he’d never looked too closely at. There was also a blanket and a handful of rations too, although he didn’t know if he trusted said rations enough to ever consume them. He had no idea how long they’d been sitting there, and though he knew they were meant to last a long time, he wasn’t too sure he wanted to hedge his bets. 

“What about this bag?” Hui asked, reaching to unzip a backpack. Kino had assumed it was just a change of clothes or work stuff. His father stayed at work plenty of times, although he was pretty sure that work was just an excuse and that he was having an affair. It wasn’t his business and he didn’t really care for either of his parents. He felt bad for his sister that he’d had to leave behind, but it wasn’t like he was given a choice. He only hoped they’d treat her with more mercy than they’d treated him. Hui let out a low whistle as he unzipped the bag. “Is your father loaded or something?”

“We’re comfortable but I wouldn’t say we’re loaded by any means. What are you talking…” Kino’s words dropped away as he moved to stand next to Hui. There weren’t clothes inside the backpack, but wads of cash. He was a complete idiot for thinking his father would care about the car. It was the damned backpack that he’d be after. “Where the hell did he get this?” He asked incredulously, as if Hui might know the answer. 

“Doesn’t matter. It’s ours now.”

Kino’s words dropped away from the sound of an engine revving as Shinwon finally got the car to turn on. “Let’s get out of here, then,” he said quickly, slamming the trunk of his father’s car shut after they had everything they needed. Shinwon climbed out of the car, giving them a thumbs up and a tight lipped smile. 

“Sorry it took so long, I haven’t had to do that in a while and it’s much harder in my current state,” he sighed, looking between Hui and Kino. “So which one of you is driving?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thank you for reading :^) lmk ur thoughts so far hehe


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this chapter is like half angst half fluff and bants

Lee Hoetaek didn’t believe in God, but he did believe in fate, and he was wondering what the hell her plans were as he climbed into the driver’s seat of the car that Shinwon had hotwired. It wouldn’t have been his first choice of car to steal, but the other had insisted it had to be an older model, and he supposed that at the end of the day a car was a car. Shinwon and Kino climbed into the backseat of the car. 

“I didn’t know I was your chauffeur,” Hui muttered, but then he backed the car out of its spot and began to drive. Snow still drifted down steadily, but it wasn’t a blizzard by any means, for which he was thankful. Although being stuck in an enclosed space with too incredibly attractive people wouldn’t be the end of the world, he wasn’t sure either of them were in the mood for anything. “So, how’d you learn to hotwire a car?”

“My dad taught me. He had a really old car and he taught me just for shits and giggles, but I never thought I’d actually have to do it.”

“Well, I’m glad he taught you.”

“I guess I am too, although everything else about this situation sucks.”

“We’ll make the best of it,” Hui laughed, sending a wink through the rear view mirror. Shinwon just stared back at him blankly. He looked exhausted, and Hui supposed that he had every right to be. They’d all been through a lot in the past few hours, and Hui couldn’t help but think about how ironic it was that him being chased by a gang was the  _ least  _ of their problems. Kino’s parents had kicked him out and Shinwon’s roommate had tried to kill him. Sure, Hui wasn’t the best person, morally speaking, but he wasn’t a hateful person by any means. The idea of anyone trying to kill someone over a part of themselves that they couldn’t change revolted him. Then again, he’d been privileged enough to grow up around people who didn’t care about that sort of thing. Sure, he had gotten weird looks every once in a while or people would spread rumors about him sleeping with someone, but it was never anything that made him feel afraid for his life. 

For a while, they drove in silence. The snow was beginning to fall harder, but he knew the area well enough. There was a motel up ahead, and though it was seedy and secluded, it was cheap. He only hoped there’d be a vacancy in a room bigger than a closet. In the rear view mirror, he could see Kino looking out the window with a frown. Shinwon had fallen asleep and was breathing loudly, his head resting on Kino’s shoulder, but if the other cared, he didn’t say anything. There was a certain softness to Shinwon’s features that made his heart lurch. Sure, he’d thought he was hot, if not out of place, when he’d first stumbled into him earlier that night, but after everything that had happened in the past few hours, he mostly just wanted to hold him and tell him things would be fine. It was probably a lie. There were no happy endings for people like them. He didn’t care if it was a lie though, because he wanted to believe it. If not for him, then for Shinwon and Kino. Hui had dug himself his own grave, but neither of the other two deserved any of the bad luck they’d had. 

Eventually, a cluster of buildings came into sight. There was a gas station, a motel, and a liquor store that was connected to a sex store. Maybe it wasn’t the most grand location, but the snow was getting dangerously close to whiteout conditions and he knew for a fact that it was at least another 20 minutes to the next place they could stay. He drove the car to an empty spot in the corner of the motel’s parking lot before putting it into park. “You two, stay here. Don’t kill the engine yet, though. I wanna make sure they actually have vacancies first. I’ll be right back,” he sighed, before climbing out of the car and making his way up to the lobby. Inside, the lights flickered and it smelled like stale cigarettes. A radio played somewhere, but the signal was fuzzy and Hui couldn’t be sure if it was because of the weather or because they were pretty much in the middle of nowhere. The receptionist at the desk was a tired looking man who could have been in his 20s or his 40s, for all he knew. 

“Do you have any vacancies?”

“What type of room,” the man asked, his voice bored. 

“It doesn’t matter. Whatever’s cheap,” he sighed. 

The man leaned forward in his chair as he typed away at the computer, looking at the rooms, yawning. “There’s no doubles, but we have a full or a king. Any preference?”

“King would be perfect,” Hui sighed. He supposed things could have been worse, and if Shinwon or Kino had any objections to the room, he’d sleep on the floor. It was the best they were going to get. 

“Can I see some ID?”

“Yeah,” Hui nodded, pulling his wallet out of his pocket before handing an ID to the receptionist. The man barely spared a glance at it before handing it back and asking him a couple more questions. They’d only be staying that night, yes, he was paying with a card, no, they didn’t need a smoking room. When the man handed him his credit card back, he dropped a pair of keys in Hui’s hands, giving him vague instructions on how to find their room, and then as he made his way back outside, Hui saw him pick up the book he’d been reading before. 

Kino jumped in his seat when Hui opened the car door again, but he held up the keys and the other visibly relaxed. Shinwon was still passed out. “Hey, sleepyhead, wake up. I need you to kill the engine on this thing,” Hui said, nudging his shoulder until he blinked awake, staring at him with a dazed expression. For a moment, he looked completely lost, but then recognition settled across his features as he remembered what had happened. 

“‘Kay,” he mumbled, shuffling out of the seat before reaching into the driver’s seat, fiddling with the wiring for a moment before the car died. Hui reached into the passenger’s seat to grab the backpack that he’d stolen from Kino’s dad’s car, while the other hoisted the bag he’d taken onto his shoulder, and then the three of them made their way to their room. It was on the second level and the door faced towards the street.

“They only had singles, but it’s a king size so it’s better than nothing,” Hui sighed, as he pushed the key into the door, wiggling it until the door came unlocked. The room wasn’t anywhere near luxurious. There was a bed, a chair, and a dresser with a small television sitting on top of it. Like the lobby, it had that same stale cigarette smell. Kino didn’t hesitate in slipping his shoes off and climbing into the bed. 

“These blankets are scratchy as hell,” he whined, his voice muffled by the pillow he’d buried his face in.

“Well, it’s the best we’ve got,” Hui sighed, swinging the door shut behind them. 

“I’m gonna shower,” Shinwon said, glancing between Kino and Hui with an unreadable expression before shuffling into the bathroom. Kino rolled over, glancing at Shinwon as he shuffled away before bursting into laughter.

“The ceiling. What the hell kinda place is this,” he pointed up and Hui followed his finger to look at the ceiling, It was made up of mirrored tiles. 

“Well, we are next to a sex store,” Hui said, shrugging before kicking his boots off and sitting at the edge of the bed.

“Yeah. Silk Caress. That’s like the worst possible name for a place.”

“Don’t judge a book by it’s cover, there could be some gems hidden inside,” Hui laughed. 

“I’ll be the judge of that,” Kino said, a mischievous glint in his eye as he grinned at Hui. It felt like he’d known him forever, not just for a few hours. Talking to him and cracking jokes as if their lives hadn’t all been turned upside down came far too easily. In the bathroom, he heard the shower turn on. 

“I can see the headline now. Non-binary teen steals father’s car and money, spending it all on sex toys.”

“That’s the plan. He’d be furious,” Kino laughed. “Thank you.”

“For what?”

“Making me laugh. Treating me like a normal person. Sometimes I tell people and they treat me like I’m a shiny new toy.”

“Hey, I just met you. It’d be pretty rude of me to make it weird,” Hui said. “I probably shoulda asked sooner, but what pronouns do you use?”

Kino shrugged. “I don’t mind he/him. They is nice too, but I’m still very comfortable with masculine pronouns and names. I know a lot of people care about how they’re referred to, but that’s not really what it’s about for me. I am what I am, and I don’t care what the hell people call me as long as they acknowledge and accept that.”

“Well, if anyone gives you trouble, I’ll give them trouble back, alright?”

“Already pledging your allegiance to me, huh?”

“It’s hard not to,” Hui sighed, leaning back to rest his head on Kino’s lap. “There’s something about you that I can’t shake. Maybe this night has been a shitshow, but I think fate meant for me to meet you. Shinwon too.”

Kino laughed at that, tentatively reaching down to ruffle a hand through Hui’s hair. “Fate, huh? Well, I think fate wants me to sleep. I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck.”

“If you hadn’t slammed on your breaks and swerved out of the way, I woulda been the one who was hit,” Hui said, grinning up at Kino. The other rolled his eyes. “You’ll make it through this. You have to,” he said, his voice suddenly serious. Maybe he’d brought his own troubles upon himself, but Shinwon and Kino had nothing to do with it. He didn’t want to drag them anymore into his mess than they already were, just by being there with him. 

Kino stared down at him with wide eyes. “You know, all night I’ve been thinking that of course I’d end up trapped with not one, but two crazy people but I’m starting to realize something.”

“And what’s that?”

“You guys might be as crazy as they come, but so am I.”

Hui opened his mouth, about to ask Kino what he meant. Sure, his situation wasn’t ideal, but he was handling it about as well as anyone could. He didn’t get the chance to ask his question though, because Kino was leaning down, placing a tentative kiss on Hui’s lips. It was a weird angle and their mouths didn’t fit together right at all because of it, but Hui didn’t care. Unexpected, maybe, but he wouldn’t trade it for the world.

“I’m sorry,” Kino whispered, pulling back just as quickly. “That was really impulsive… I shouldn’t have-'' the rest of his sentence fell away as Hui peeled himself out of his lap to turn and face him, cupping his cheek and bringing him into another kiss. This time, they fit together perfectly and Hui heard Kino gasp softly before leaning into it. 

“If you’re gonna kiss me, kiss me like you mean it,” Hui laughed, pulling back and leaving Kino chasing his lips. From behind them, there was a low whistle. 

“I see you two didn’t waste time getting acquainted,” Shinwon said. He stood in the doorway of the bathroom, hair still dripping wet as it clung to his forehead, towel wrapped around his waist. Hui couldn’t help but grin when Kino made no move to pull away from him. Finally, someone just as unembarrassed as him. “Does your dad happen to have first aid stuff in his rust bag of tricks?”

“Of course you’d call it that,” Kino sighed, a smile tugging at his lips as he peeled himself away from Hui to root through the bag. Hui wasn’t sure if he’d describe the bag as rust, but from the way that Kino and Shinwon smiled at each other, it must have been a reference to something. “Come here, you big baby. Lemme patch you up.”

“Who are you calling baby, baby?” Shinwon feigned offense, shuffling over to sit at the edge of the bed with Kino. Hui raised an eyebrow, watching as the towel started to come loose. It was definitely going to fall the moment Shinwon stood up, but if he didn’t notice then that was on him. Kino clucked his tongue as he began applying an ointment to the cut on Shinwon’s face. The other hissed, furrowing his eyebrows in pain and then leaning into Kino’s hand as he began to apply a bandage to it. 

“You’re lucky the cut isn’t that deep,” he said, running his fingers over the bandage to make sure it was smoothed out, before gently patting it. “All better.”

“No I’m not, you forgot the most important step,” Shinwon said, eyes wide as he stared at Kino. 

“No I didn’t-“

“You didn’t kiss it better. You’re supposed to do that or it won’t heal,” Shinwon’s tone was as serious as it could be. 

“Are you-“

“You better give him his kiss,” Hui said in just as serious of a tone. “You don’t want his cut to heal wrong, do you?”

“Traitor,” Kino muttered, but then he was turning to face Shinwon. Hui couldn’t help but grin at the flush that filled his cheeks as he leaned in, pressing a delicate kiss on Shinwon’s cheek, or at least it was supposed to be on his cheek. Shinwon turned his face at the last moment, sneaking a kiss on Kino’s lips before getting up before the other could swat at him. His towel fell from his waist as he backed away, a sheepish grin on his face. Kino scoffed, grabbing the towel before chucking it at Shinwon’s face. “I can’t believe you,” he whined, but he couldn’t even hide the smile that kept tugging at his lips. 

_ Cute,  _ Hui thought.  _ Both of them are cute.  _

The last thing he needed was to get a crush on somebody when he was very much on the run, but he found that he didn’t care. Was it smart? Certainly not, but the three of them were stuck together anyways, so they may as well have some fun while they were at it. He leaned back, watching as Kino and Shinwon bickered, catching himself smiling. He wasn’t sure when their conversation dropped away completely, just that their eyes had both settled on him.

“What?” 

“Nothing,” Kino and Shinwon spoke in unison, before exchanging glances with each other. 

“Well, if that’s all, we should probably sleep. I only booked this room for the night, and we’re gonna want to put more distance between us and everything else tomorrow.”

“This is really it, huh?” Shinwon sighed.

“I never thought I’d end up a fugitive at 20,” Kino said.

“You get used to it after a while,” Hui said without thinking. The pair stared at him incredulously. “I’ve been running for years. What can I say, I have bad luck and the wrong people end up misplacing things. Those guys who were chasing me earlier? They’re not the only ones after me,” he said. He had a knack for getting in admittedly terrible situations and his bad habit of just  _ taking  _ things hadn’t helped in that matter at all. He couldn’t even tell when it’d started or how. Maybe it’d come from his lack of money as a kid and the fact that he had had to fend for himself. He didn’t know if any money he’d made in his life had ever been from something honest. It was always cheating people or stealing, and there’d been a handful of times he’d been desperate enough to sell himself. He’d dug himself deep enough that there was no way he’d ever be able to dream of using any of his skills for anything honest. He was wanted by law enforcement and gangs alike, and he had just enough luck that he was always able to keep himself just out of reach. It was only a matter of time before it all caught up to him. Once it did, he’d be dragged down along with anyone within reach. Maybe it was selfish, but he wanted to keep the two strangers staring at him close. Just by being with him for more than a few hours, they’d been dragged into his mess, and the only way to get them out of it would be to push them away, which was the last thing he wanted to do. Besides, he had the sneaking sensation that they wouldn’t go anywhere even if he begged. 

“Come on,” he said, scooting over so that there was enough room on the bed for the other two. Shinwon climbed in first, not seeming to care that he was naked, and he couldn’t even hope to blame alcohol at this point because it seemed like ages ago that they’d met at the bar. Kino walked over to the door, making sure it was locked and bolted before he shut off the light and climbed in on the other side of Shinwon, tentatively reaching to wrap his arm around his waist. Hui sucked in a breath when he felt his fingers brush against his own, but just as quickly, he was gripping onto Kino’s hand tightly. So maybe this was not how he’d expected the night to go, but as messed up as the whole situation was, he wouldn’t have it any other way. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> lemme know what you think hehe this chapter was fun to write :)


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> they are all fools and this chapter is pretty much just fluff and banter

Shinwon was warm when he woke up. He normally would have thrown his blankets off of him and gone back to sleep, but he quickly realized that the source of the warmth wasn’t from the blankets but the two people who he was sandwiched between. Kino slept with his head buried in his shoulder while Hui was laying on his back, reaching across Shinwon to grip onto Kino’s hand. He was aware of the fact that he was naked, and for a moment, he panicked, wondering if he’d gotten so drunk that he’d slept with two people and then immediately forgotten about it, but no. As he stared at Kino’s mess of hair, the events of the previous night came rushing back to him. His roommate’s body bleeding out on the floor of their dorm. The bar and the men chasing after him and Hui with guns. Almost getting run over. Hot wiring a car and ending up at a dingy motel with mirrors on the ceiling and an empty beer can under the bathroom sink. They’d slept together, sure, but they hadn’t had sex. Shinwon found that that fact didn’t comfort him or bring him distress. He’d killed someone, but all he felt was a vague numbness and sense of impending doom. 

He sat up, running a hand through his hair as he sighed. What time was it, even? He glanced at the clock, seeing that it was barely 7 am. So much for sleeping in. He wasn’t even sure what time it’d been when they’d gotten to the hotel. It had to have been late, but after his third drink and the following shoot out, time had blurred together into a mess. It was hard to keep track of. Still, a mix of exhaustion and hangover clung to him and he wished he could just fall back asleep, but his head was pounding and he was now much more sober and aware of the fact that he had run away with two strangers. Maybe he’d kissed one of them, but they were still strangers, after all. He peeled himself out of bed, trying to move carefully so he wouldn’t wake up Hui or Kino, but of course they were both clinging to him in a way that made it a tricky task. As he finally freed himself, Hui moaned something unintelligible and Shinwon froze, but the other just let out a sigh before rolling to bury his head in Kino’s shoulder. He couldn’t help but wonder what he’d gotten himself into. 

Shinwon hadn’t taken much of a shower the previous night because he had nothing to wash himself with, and the motel didn’t have any soap. He’d tried to rinse the blood from his skin without hurting himself worse, before quickly giving up. When he’d gotten out, he’d heard Hui and Kino talking, and had listened quietly, not wanting to burst in mid-conversation. He hadn’t realized Kino was non-binary, but it wasn’t really surprising to him either. Listening to him and Hui banter back and forth had been nice and their conversation sounded natural. When he started to get tired of waiting for the right moment to leave the bathroom, he’d walked out to see Hui leaning in, kissing Kino. He’d felt something like a pang of jealousy, but he wasn’t sure if he was jealous of Hui or Kino. Instead, he’d shrugged it off, making a joke. Kissing Kino hadn’t been his plan, but he found that sometimes he was capable of making good decisions impulsively, and that was one of those times. There was something about Kino that drew him in, and when he’d seen and heard the way Hui interacted with the other, he could tell that he could feel it too. 

He made his way to the bathroom, picking up his clothes from where he’d left them on the floor and pulling them on. He felt dirty and he wanted to get something clean, but after checking the bags Hui and Kino had grabbed, he found nothing he could wear. He did find a lot of money, and he couldn’t recall either of them saying they had _that much_ money on them, but maybe it’d come up while he was still drunk. He couldn’t be too sure about anything. He did manage to find some Advil in the rust bag that was really more of an orange, and he downed a few pills with some water from the bathroom sink. He could taste the strong chemical flavor of the water, but swallowing pills dry was not one of his talents, so he’d have to power through it. 

When he walked back into the main room, Hui was still asleep, but Kino was sitting up, legs bunched up and face buried in his hands. “Why are you up so early,” he whined, and Shinwon just shrugged in response. “How’s your cut?”

Shinwon’s hand flew to his face. He hadn’t checked on it yet, and although he was aware of the pain once Kino had brought it up, he’d grown so accustomed to it that he hadn’t noticed it before. “It feels like a cut,” he sighed.

“Lemme check on it,” Kino said, gesturing for him to come over. Shinwon nodded, reaching down to pick up the first aid kit before sitting at the end of the bed, cross legged. Usually he didn’t like to let people fuss over him. He liked doing things himself and being able to prove that yes, he was a functioning adult. With Kino, though, it was different. For whatever reason, the near-stranger had a way of making Shinwon drop all of his guard, and maybe he wanted to watch him dote on him. Kino’s fingers moved gently across his skin as he peeled back the bandage, his brow furrowed in concentration. “This’ll probably sting,” he said, and then he began to clean the wound. 

Shinwon hissed at the pain, letting out a curse. “Do you even know what you’re doing?”

“Nope,” Kino said in a deadpan voice, fretting over Shinwon for another moment as he patted his skin dry and put on a fresh bandage. “I just read a lot and hope it translates to real life skills.”

“I can’t tell if you’re being serious, and I’m not sure if I want to know.”

“Right,” Kino sighed, shaking his head before he leaned in and gave Shinwon a quick peck on the lips.

“What was that for?” Shinwon asked.

“So your wound heals properly,” Kino replied, winking at him as he shoved things back into the first aid kit.

“Hui will get jealous if he finds out.”

“Not if we kiss him too,” Kino grinned.

“You’re a genius.”

For a while, they talked back and forth like that, keeping their voices soft to avoid waking up Hui. Shinwon found out that while Kino had been in school, he’d been studying business. He’d laughed at that, because although he’d known the other for less than 24 hours, he knew him well enough to know that he’d never in his life be a businessman. Not for lack of trying, but because it simply didn’t suit him. He carried in himself a certain passion that felt like it could only be translated into the purest, most delicate form of art. When Shinwon had voiced that thought, Kino had laughed, saying that although his parents would have never paid for it or supported it, he wanted to be a dancer. He’d taught himself how to dance in his free time, and he’d made friends with dancers who had helped him perfect different things. He didn’t have a plan for what he wanted to do with his newfound skills, but he laughed, shaking his head sadly. “Doesn’t exactly matter anymore, does it?”

Shinwon shrugged. “Maybe you could show me sometime,” he said. His voice was soft and genuine. Maybe the sentence came out sounding a bit suggestive, from the way that the tips of Kino’s ears turned pink, but he found that he liked that reaction. Maybe he could watch Kino dance, or maybe it could turn into something more; either option sounded fine to Shinwon as he grinned at Kino. 

“What about you?” Kino changed the subject, instead, turning to face Shinwon and looking at him with curiosity.

This time, Shinwon couldn’t keep himself quiet as laughter bubbled from his chest. “Oh, the irony,” he said, shaking his head as he put a hand over his mouth in an attempt to quiet down. It was really fucking ironic and he hadn’t put too much thought into it until that moment.

“What?”

“I was a criminal studies major,” Shinwon laughed. Kino’s eyebrows shot into the air as he stared at him, trying to find a sign that he was joking, before his face broke into a grin and he started laughing as well, smacking a hand against Shinwon’s thigh. 

“I’ll show you my dancing if you handcuff me,” he said, wiggling his eyebrows.

“I was a student, not a cop,” Shinwon scoffed. “I don’t have any handcuffs.”

This earned a pout from Kino, but just as quickly, his face brightened. “I know where we can get some,” he said. 

“Oh my god, we’re not abandoning Hui so we can buy handcuffs from the sex store,” Shinwon said, pushing Kino hard in the shoulder. The other just pushed him back, erupting in a fit of giggles. 

“If my father doesn’t kill me for being a disgrace, he will kill me for spending his money on toys… which makes me want to do it even more. I don’t know why he has all that money, but it’s ours now and I think it’d be perfect to be the deviant he thinks I am with it.”

“I can’t argue with that logic. You can be the deviant and I’ll punish you,” Shinwon said, sending a wink at Kino. The other looked at him for a long moment before laughing again. 

“No offense, but I can’t see you punishing anyone,” Hui’s voice broke through their laughter, and they both whipped their heads to see him sitting up, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. He glanced at the clock and frowned. “Why the hell did you guys wake up so early?”

Shinwon just shrugged. 

Kino sighed, “I woke up because he woke up. He was warm and when he left I got cold”. 

“I was warm? I felt like I was sleeping in between two furnaces.”

“No, you’re the furnace and you were keeping me warm.”

“Well, I‘ll gladly keep you warm if you ask n-“

Hui cleared his throat and Kino and Shinwon turned to look at him again, sheepish grins on their faces. “Well, since we’re all awake, there’s no point in staying here any longer than we need to. I’m gonna run to the gas station and buy some stuff for the road, you two…” he paused before shrugging, “Do whatever you want, I don’t care. Just don’t cause any more problems than we already have.”

“Problems? Us?” Shinwon looked at Kino, with a raised eyebrow. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“We’ll be on our best behavior,” Kino grinned, gesturing at an invisible halo over his head. 

“Right,” Hui said, sighing as he pushed himself out of bed. “I don’t suppose you have any toothpaste in that magic bag, do you?”

Kino shook his head with a sheepish grin. “It’s not like my father gave me time to grab anything when he kicked me out. I just have what he left in his car.”

“That’s what I was afraid you’d say…” Hui stretched his arms over his head and Shinwon could hear a very loud pop of something cracking. He also could see the way that the other’s shirt rose up just enough for him to get a glimpse of his stomach. His stomach, which was very toned. Shinwon wondered if his skin felt as soft as it looked, but before he could do anything with those thoughts, Hui’s arms were at his side again as he shuffled over to the bathroom. He heard the sound of the shower turning on and Hui’s voice echoing out of it as he began singing.

“So… now that Hui’s awake… wanna run to the sex store?” 

“Wait, you were _serious_ about that? Why do you wanna go there so bad?” 

Kino shrugged. “I’ve always been curious but also too afraid to go inside. Enough people know my father that he would have found out immediately if someone spotted me there, but now? It’s not like any of it matters, so I might as well do something stupid,” he said with a laugh. His cheeks were slightly flushed and Shinwon fought the urge to reach out and ruffle his hair.

“I guess we can… I just don’t wanna be in there forever, and I’m sure Hui would be mad if we got lost in there too.” 

“Lucky for you, I’m an expert at navigating _everything,_ ” Kino grinned.

“Then that settles it,” Shinwon said, but really it hadn’t been a question to begin with. It didn’t matter that he’d known Kino for less than 24 hours because he would have gladly accompanied him to Hell if he’d asked. The pair of them stood up, shrugging on their jackets and putting on their shoes, and Shinwon paused at the door as he watched Kino reach for the notepad on their bedside table to scrawl a note on it for Hui so he’d know they didn’t abandon him. Then, the pair of them were stepping outside and into the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hiiiii sorry for waiting so long to update ahh!! anyways lemme know what you think :^)


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> nothing explicit happens in this chapter but they’re also at a sex store so,

Hui was going to be pissed when he finally left the comfort of their motel room. They must’ve made it to the motel just in the nick of time, because outside, everything was blanketed in a thick layer of snow. Thick enough that Shinwon immediately tried to turn to go back into the room, but Kino wasn’t going to let him chicken out now. “A little snow never hurt anybody,” he said, moving to make his way to the stairs. 

“I’m wearing converse, my socks are gonna get wet. So are my legs.”

“Maybe we should use some of this money to buy you better shoes then,” Kino said, glancing through the cash he’d grabbed before pocketing it. 

“My shoes are perfectly fine-“

“Then don’t whine about them.”

“The snow’s gonna be higher on you! It probably is gonna be up to your knees-“ Shinwon tried again, but Kino grabbed his hand and pulled him down the stairs after him. Shinwon could try to get out of it as much as he wanted, but when Kino was determined, nothing could veer him away. Not even the couple feet of snow that blanketed the ground and had yet to be plowed away from the motel parking lot. The street that the motel was on had been plowed, leaving huge piles of snow on either side, and Kino could see the open lights on in the stores across the street, although the only cars parked in those lots were likely from the unfortunate souls who had to work there. 

As Shinwon predicted, the snow was high on Kino’s legs, although it didn’t quite reach his knees. He could feel it seeping through his boots because even though they were a step better than converse, there was a lot of snow. He ignored the coldness that shot up his legs as he began to trudge his way through the parking lot and towards the street, Shinwon close behind him. If anything, they could just take a bath or a shower to warm up once they got back inside. The road wasn’t busy because it was still fairly early and it was a weekend, and he was sure that the people at the store would be confused as to why anybody had ventured out in the snow in the first place, but he was bored and they didn’t have a lot of options at the motel to begin with. 

The parking lot was plowed, and they finally had a smooth enough surface to shuffle across, although it was icy as they made their way towards the store and Kino’s feet slipped out from under him as he stepped onto the sidewalk. Luckily, Shinwon was close behind him, catching him and steadying him with a quick ‘Careful, babe’. Kino decided that he liked the way Shinwon spoke and liked the way the pet name sounded on his lips as he grinned back at him. When they stepped into the store, a bell rang and a girl with red hair looked up at them with a raised eyebrow.

“I didn’t think anybody would even bother coming here today,” she said, with an amused expression on her face.

“Yeah… we kinda got snowed in at the motel across the street. This and the liquor store are probably the most exciting things within reach so…” Kino trailed off, shrugging with a laugh. He glanced over at Shinwon, whose eyes were wandering across the store, the tips of his ears turning red. His cheeks had already been a little bit red from the cold, but he seemed completely embarrassed about being in the store. 

“Well, let me know if you need anything,” the girl said with a snort as she went back to scanning through the magazine she’d been looking at.

“Will do,” Kino grinned, reaching for Shinwon’s wrist as he began to look around the store. He’d never been in an ‘adult’ store before, so he didn’t really have any point of reference or set of expectations, but to his standards, it seemed organized enough. Along one wall were shelves of movies that were sorted by preference and genre, and then there was a rack of magazines next to it as well. There were also a few romance novels, although they seemed to be less popular than the movies and magazines. Kino picked one of the magazines up, flipping through the pages and taking in all the skin. The people inside ranged in appearance, but he supposed they were all nice to look at. 

“You really have no shame,” Shinwon sighed, peering over Kino’s shoulder.

“And you seem to have too much of it. Loosen up a bit, nobody’s gonna attack you here.”

“The last person who told me to loosen up ended up…” Shinwon trailed off and Kino looked at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Relax, ‘Won. I’m not gonna come at you with a knife, and I don’t think the cashier cares too much either. I don’t think she’ll care unless you decide to be difficult or make a mess of the store.”

It was a weak attempt at reassurance, but it seemed to work as Kino watched Shinwon’s shoulders visibly relax a little. Kino turned back to the magazine, flipping through a few more pages before setting it back on its rack and wandering farther into the store. The next section of the store seemed to be mostly lingerie as well as a handful of wearable toys. Kino looked through the lace and the pretty fabric, a pout forming on his face. He wished there was something he could wear. Not even for anybody else but himself. Most of the lingerie was made with cis women’s bodies in mind and he was neither cis nor a woman, so he wasn’t sure where that left him. 

“What about this?” Shinwon’s voice broke him out of his daze and he turned to where the other was standing at a rack of colorful garments. In his hand, he held a hanger with a one piece, but where many of the others had large busts and were clearly meant for somebody with more curves than him, this one was more neutral. It was a pretty shade of purple and Kino shuffled over to pluck it from his hands, feeling the fabric himself. Most of it was sheer, and there was lace that covered the chest and crotch of it, and when he glanced up at the rack, he saw a display of models ranging in gender presentation wearing it. Because of the way it was made, it had a form that suited all body types. His lips pulled into a grin. 

“Do you think it’d suit me?” He asked, holding it against his body as he struck a pose.

“Oh, I think it was made for you,” Shinwon said, laughing. 

Kino glanced at the tags on it, looking at the price and the measurements. It was his size, and although it was expensive, it wasn’t like he was spending  _ his  _ money. He laid it across his arm, his decision made. Then he remembered his original excuse for dragging Shinwon to the store. “We need to find handcuffs,” he said, grinning. 

“God, you actually want me to handcuff you?”

“Maybe… what about it?” Shinwon stared at him dumbfounded for a moment, his cheeks turning even redder, and Kino let out a laugh. “You don’t  _ have  _ to, but I think it’d be a fun time.”

As the pair made their way deeper into the store, Kino had to keep himself from being sidetracked. He knew what plenty of the stuff was, of course, but there were a few things he found himself pausing to stare at as he wondered what the  _ hell  _ he was even looking at. He caught himself reading the description of something that clearly wasn’t made for his body as he tried to figure out what it even did, but when he looked up he saw Shinwon holding a box in his hands as he stared at the back of it. Kino stepped away from the display and slowly crept up behind Shinwon to look over his shoulder. He was looking at a dildo, of all things, but it was more like the type Kino would expect to see on online stores; it was shaped like a tentacle and looked like it was purple and pink. 

“I didn’t know you were into that sorta thing, ‘Won,” Kino said quietly, standing close enough that his breath brushed against the back of Shinwon’s neck. Predictably, the other jumped, letting out a string of curses as he dropped the box. 

“I- I’m n-“

“Hey, it’s okay if you are. I’m hardly in the position to judge-“

“No, I’m really not,” Shinwon laughed, his cheeks turning reader. “I just saw the colors and…” he trailed off, eyes darting from Kino, to the box, to his shoes, to the wall - he couldn’t seem to decide where to look.

“And what?” Kino asked, raising an eyebrow as he plucked the box from Shinwon’s hands.

“I dunno. The purple and pink made me think of you,” he said, his pitch rising as if he were asking a question rather than making a statement. He made a face that was caught between a smile and a grimace.

“Shinwon. You were walking through a sex store, and you looked at a tentacle dildo, and you thought of me?” Kino fought to keep his voice even and his expression passive. He wasn’t sure if he’d ever tried so hard not to laugh in his life.

“Well when you put it that way, it sounds-“ Shinwon made a move to grab the box from his arms, but Kino yanked it out of his reach, letting himself smile. “Hey, give it back. I was just being stupid-“

“Oh no you don’t,” Kino said, gripping onto the box tighter. “Maybe I want it now.”

“Really?”

Kino shrugged, “Yeah. It’s pretty. I don’t know if I’ll use it on myself or anything, but it would be satisfying to spend my father’s money on.”

“We can just wait til we see Hui, and then put it to use,” Shinwon said, lips pulling into a smirk.

“Oh, you genius. I dunno, though. I think Hui might draw the line at us running at him with a tentacle dildo.” 

“You’re probably right,” Shinwon said, pouting. 

“So what’s your story?” The cashier’s voice appeared behind them, making them both jump. Kino turned around to stare at the girl in confusion. She was shorter than him and downright tiny if compared to Shinwon, and she was looking right at him with a knowing expression, but Kino wasn’t quite sure what she  _ knew.  _

“What do you mean?”

“I dunno about the tall one, but I saw your face on the news this morning. Kang Hyunggu, right? The cops are lookin’ for you-'' she paused, looking between him and Shinwon with a raised eyebrow, noting the way they both tensed up. “Don’t worry, I didn’t tell them anything. One look at you and I knew that whatever it was probably wasn’t as bad as they were making it out to be.”

“What did they say?” Kino asked, pushing down the dread that began to settle over him. His face was being flashed across the news paired with a name he’d vowed to leave behind and likely accompanied with a photo from his days when he’d begrudgingly agreed to do track in high school. He’d known his father would be quick and he’d known that the man would refuse to acknowledge him as anything other than what he deemed acceptable, but it still left him feeling nauseated. 

The girl shrugged, “That you ran away and stole your daddy’s car. That it was found abandoned with gunshots in it, and that you took something valuable out of it. So what’s your story? People don’t just run away and steal their parent’s cars for the fun of it,” she said. 

“I… I didn’t run away. He kicked me out, so I took his car. It was impulsive and I was gonna… it doesn’t matter what I was gonna do, because I’m here now.” It’d been under 24 hours, but the scene felt like a distant memory. So much had happened in between his fight with his father and him ending up where he was now, but those hours had stretched out like an eternity. He felt like he’d known Shinwon and Hui for ages, not under a day. 

“Well… I know the snow’s bad, but you should be careful. They have search parties out and a warrant for your arrest. I’d suggest getting far from here as soon as you’re able to.”

“You’re not afraid of getting in trouble?” Shinwon asked, incredulously.

She just shrugged. “As long as you’re not paying for that stuff with cards, they have no way of knowing you were here. We have a camera in the shop, but it stopped working last week and we haven’t had the money to fix it yet,” her lips pulled into a smile. “Besides, everybody’s got something they’re running from. Life’s terrible like that, hm?”

“Thank you,” Kino breathed, staring at the girl with wide eyes. He couldn’t help but wonder what her story was. Her eyes, although soft and warm, held the same hollowness that Shinwon’s did, and although her hair was freshly dyed and her makeup carefully applied, he had the feeling that no amount of upkeep would be able to hide her past. Whatever had happened to her couldn’t have been good, but she’d pulled through it and now she was helping them. 

“Don’t mention it,” she said, and then she was turning away, leaving him and Shinwon staring after her. 


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> !! huge heads up that like basically the whole second half of this chapter is super explicit 🤪✌️ i hope y’all are in the mood for a shinwon sandwich !! :)

They were snowed in. This is bad, Hui thought to himself as he trudged through the snow and back to the motel office. They’d need another night because no amount of praying would get their beat up car out of the parking lot. His legs were numb from the snow by the time he was shaking them off in the entryway of the lobby. At the desk sat a different receptionist, staring at him with a raised eyebrow. 

“Let me guess, you need to add another night?” He asked, and Hui nodded at him sheepishly as he wandered to the counter.

“How’d you know?”

“You’re like the fourth guy this morning. Awfully inconvenient, isn’t it?”

“I’ll survive, hopefully,” Hui said, sighing as he fished out his wallet and handed his cards to the man. “Do you think there’ll be a plow any time soon?”

“Hard to say,” the man shrugged, taking the cards and peering at them as he pulled up the information on the computer. “Sometimes they come by right away, other times it’s days. Hopefully soon, though, because if I get trapped in this parking lot I’m going to make a scene.” 

“Hopefully,” Hui said, sighing as he took his cards back. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it,” the man said, and Hui could feel his eyes on him as he left the lobby. He tried to rack his brain and figure out where he’d met the man before. He knew him. He was sure of it. He just wasn’t sure how. He’d met so many people and had more reckless adventures than he could count, and although he knew the man’s face, he couldn’t place him. He wondered if the man recognized him too. 

The next order of business was to run to the gas station. It likely wouldn’t have tons in terms of supplies, but something would be better than what they had at the moment, which was next to nothing and a shit ton of money. Thankfully, he didn’t have to cross the main street in order to get to the gas station, and unlike the motel, the gas station’s lot had been plowed. It seemed like every damn place had been plowed except for the motel and Hui found himself cursing their luck. Of course that was how it’d be. 

The inside of the gas station was lit by lights that were too bright, and one of them was flickering. It was accompanied by the stale scent of spilled beer and something else that Hui didn’t want to think too hard about. The cashier paid him no attention as he reached for a basket and shuffled through the store. As suspected, there wasn’t much in terms of anything useful, but he was able to find a cheap 3-in-one body wash, shampoo, and conditioner. Normally, he’d scoff at the idea of using such a product; he usually used his stolen money to invest in name brand stuff with pretty scents, but their situation was anything but normal and he was out of luck because that was the only option. He grabbed toothpaste and a pack of toothbrushes that looked so cheap that they might break in half, and then he moved to the next aisle. He was able to find a crate of cheap instant noodles, as well as some granola bars, and while neither thing were his favorite, he figured it’d last them a few days at least. Lastly, he bought a can of gasoline. It’d be better to have some for the road than to potentially have to worry about running out of gas mid car chase. 

It was only a matter of time before they were found out, after all.

Once Hui was satisfied with his selection of items, he made his way to the counter. The cashier scanned them wordlessly, grunting something unintelligible when Hui handed him cash for the items. He hadn’t asked Kino if he could take cash from his father’s stash, but he hardly thought that the other would care. After all, he was spending on money on stuff they needed while the other two had decided to go on an excursion across the street to the sex store. Ridiculous, but everything about their situation was ridiculous. 

“Keep the change,” Hui muttered, not bothering to wait while the man counted the cash as he reached for the bag and gas can and strolled out of the store. If the man had any objections, Hui wasn’t around for long enough to hear. 

The sun had come out in the few minutes Hui had been in the store, and although the wind still bit at his skin and the snow seeped through his pants, the sun provided some warmth. He hoped that it’d be enough to melt down the snow because he wasn’t sure how much he trusted waiting for a plow service if it didn’t come within that day. As he made his way back towards their room, he could see fresh tracks doubling over the ones Shinwon and Kino had left earlier, and sure enough, a snowy trail led up the stairs. So they’d returned.

As he reached for the doorknob, he hesitated. They had just been at the sex store after all, and he wasn’t sure what he was about to barge into, but he sighed and rolled his eyes, sliding the key in and pushing the door open. Inside, Shinwon was in the middle of peeling off his very soaked socks, cursing as he did so, while Kino was sifting through an opaque bag that looked like it contained too many damn things. Hui hadn’t expected them to bring home a whole haul and he wondered what the hell they’d found that had been so interesting. 

“Hi Hui!” Kino said, but he didn’t sound overly enthusiastic. 

“Why the long face? Didn’t you just go on a shopping spree?”

“The cashier said she saw my face on the news this morning. She said she wouldn’t call anybody, but still. There’s people looking for me.”

“Shit,” Hui said, setting the gas can near the door as he moved to kick off his shoes. “Have you used any cards since? Do you have a phone or anything they can trace you with?”

“No, I paid for this stuff with cash, and I left my phone at home. They found my father’s car though, so who knows how long it’ll take them to find us here,” he said, frowning. 

“Well, I paid for another night and hopefully the snow melts or a plow comes so that we can get the hell out of here before anyone comes looking. The roads are still shit so maybe that’ll deter anybody from coming out here.”

“Okay… okay. I’m just… I don’t know what my father does to have that type of money but I don’t think it’s good. If he’s sending people after me, I don’t want to put you guys in danger…”

“You don’t wanna put us in danger? Mind you that we’re the ones who climbed into your car because we were being chased by men with guns. I don’t think you need to worry about either of us,” Hui said, laughing weakly.

“That’s a fair point. Were you able to find anything useful at the gas station?”

“Yeah. They didn’t have anything great but I found a 3-in-one and some toothbrushes and toothpaste. I woulda gotten clothes, but there wasn’t anything there. We’ll have to pick some up whenever we leave this place.”

“That’s fine,” Kino said, sighing as he strolled over to pluck the toiletries out of the bag. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to take a shower because I feel absolutely filthy.”

“Not if I do first, I’m freezing my ass off,” Shinwon interjected. 

“You showered last night-“

“-And there wasn’t soap last night-“

“Or you could share. You already seem acquainted enough,” Hui said, sighing. He was cold too, but he’d been in that shower already. It was small as it was and there was no way all three of them would be able to fit. For a moment, Kino and Shinwon stared at Hui in shock, and then they looked at each other. Finally, Kino just shrugged and made his way to the bathroom, Shinwon close behind. The door shut behind them and Hui laughed to himself, listening as the pair bickered for a moment before turning on the water. 

Alone, he peeled off his pants, hanging them over the edge of the tv so that they could dry. The snow outside had been up to his knees, resulting in the pants being thoroughly soaked. Then, he made his way back to the bed, cocooning himself in the blanket. He hoped that the pair wouldn’t use all the hot water, but he had no way of knowing whether they’d just shower quickly or if they’d be in there for the rest of the day. He felt his body relaxing under the warmth of the blanket, and he wasn’t sure how much time passed as he just lay there, listening to the sound of running water, but he was jolted from his half asleep state by a loud rapping at the door. 

The shower was still running, and for a moment, he thought that he’d been hearing things, but it came again. Sighing, he pulled himself out of the bed, keeping the blanket wrapped around him like a cape before peering through the peephole. He felt his stomach drop, but he did his best to put on an innocent expression as he opened the door. “Is everything alright?” 

“We’re looking for a missing person. We’re just checking motels in the area because we think he could have run off in this direction. Do you know anyone by the name of Kang Hyunggu?” The woman at the door was short, and her hair was pulled back tightly. Her badge flashed across her chest and Hui tried to keep from looking at it and betraying his concern. He might not have known who the hell the woman was talking about, but cops always had him on edge. He’d done more than his fair share of things he shouldn’t have. 

“Doesn’t ring any bells, I’m sorry. He’s not dangerous, is he?”

“Doesn’t seem to be. Just a runaway college kid. His family’s worried about him,” she said, nodding. “Take this, though, and give us a call if you see anything suspicious, okay?” She pulled a flier out of her pocket, before handing it to him. 

“I will. Take care out there,” Hui said, smiling as he nodded politely. The officer nodded back before making her way towards the next room. Hui shut the door before letting out a sigh and looking at the piece of paper in his hands. He was glad he’d waited to do so because if he’d looked at it while she was still at the door, he wouldn’t have been able to hide the shock that spread across his face.

Missing. Kang Hyunggu. 20. Below the bold letters was a photo of Kino. It was definitely a few years old and he looked out of place as he grinned in front of a row of bleachers, but it was unmistakably him. It was really lucky that he knew him as Kino, because for as much trouble as Hui got himself into, he was terrible at lying when it came to being asked direct questions. Behind him, he heard the bathroom door open. Quickly, he folded up the flier before shoving it into his wallet. If Kino saw it, he was sure the other would just be more on edge than he already was. 

When he turned around, he was met with Shinwon shuffling out of the bathroom as he dried his hair with a towel. “Kino refuses to get out, so if you wanna shower with hot water, I’d suggest going in now,” he said, before unceremoniously flopping onto the bed.

“Noted,” Hui said, tossing his wallet onto the table before making his way to the tiny bathroom. Inside, the mirror was fogged up and there were hints of lines where previous occupants might have drawn on the surface with their fingers. The door of the shower was a textured glass and Hui could see Kino’s silhouette as he stood under the spray of the water, staring down at his hands. 

“Mind if I join you?” Hui asked, his voice breaking the other out of his daze. He nodded quickly.

“Come on in,” he pasted a smile onto his face. 

Hui pulled off his layers and then pulled open the door to step under the water. It was warm, and although the motel was otherwise seedy, the water pressure was nice. Kino wordlessly shuffled over to make room for Hui to wash himself, handing him the soap. “How are you holding up?”

“I’m terrified,” Kino said, laughing weakly. “I have no idea what I’m doing anymore, and I can joke and mess around and pretend it’s fine, but I’m here aren’t I? I was on the news, and now it feels like whether or not my father acknowledges me is the least of my concerns.”

“We’ll get through this, yeah?” Hui reached out, grabbing one of Kino’s hands and giving it a squeeze. “I’m here too, and so is Shinwon. God only knows what’s been going through his head since last night. He was a mess when I found him, you know? Neither of you deserve any of this, but life’s like that sometimes, so it’s our job to make the best of it.”

“I guess so… what about you? I feel like I barely know anything about you.”

What was there to know? While Kino and Shinwon seemed like good people who’d gotten pulled into something bad, Hui had been running for a long time already. He had anything that life was going to throw at him coming. Maybe he hadn’t chosen to be picked up off the street and get pulled into a life of crime, but he’d had countless opportunities to leave it behind. He could have made the choice to stop running, but he didn’t and sooner or later it’d catch up to him like it’d caught up to the others. People who associated with him rarely came out unscathed. Whether it was an impulsive weekend or a one night stand, he’d seen more than his fair share of lives flipped upside down. “What do you wanna know?”

“Hm…” Kino pursed his lips, considering the question for a moment, before he moved closer to Hui. “Tell me something you’ve never told anyone else,” he decided. 

Something he’d never told anyone else? Hui closed his eyes for a moment, leaning his head against Kino’s shoulder as he thought about it. His life was full of things he’d never told anyone. He had more secrets than he could count, but some of them meant nothing while others had once been life or death. As Kino reached up to rub circles in his back, Hui raked his mind for something meaningful. 

“When I was a kid, my boss used to have these dogs. They were friendly enough if they were treated nicely, but my boss never was nice. One night, I snuck into the room that he kept the dogs in and I let them out. Come morning, nobody could find them. The boss was furious, but he never found out it was me who did it. I hope those dogs made it out alright…” 

“And what were their names?” 

Hui laughed, looking up at Kino with a grin. “Caligula, Maximus, and Caesar. They were smart, but I’m pretty sure they were pacifists despite my boss wanting them to be fighters.”

“You know… I like you Hui,” Kino said. He was leaning in closer now, his forehead resting against Hui’s. It would take him no effort to just lean in and close the gap, but instead he stood there, holding his breath.

“You shouldn’t,” he breathed.

“And why not? Sure there’s people after you, but there’s people after me too. Maybe they haven’t figured out what happened to Shinwon’s roommate yet, but when they do, I don’t think they’ll let him plead self defense.”

“You guys didn’t ask to be pulled into this mess though. It’s my own fault that I’m here, but it’s neither of yours.”

“Maybe we didn’t ask to be pulled into this, but we’re already here. A little late to turn back now, don’t you think? Now are you going to keep standing there like an idiot or are you going to kiss me?”

Hui sighed, shaking his head, but then he was reaching up to cup Kino’s jaw as he closed the distance between them. The other’s lips were soft and wet against his own and the way he pressed into him turned him on more than he cared to admit. As if on cue, Kino pulled back, reaching a hand down to wrap around them both. “Is this okay?” He asked. Hui could only nod, leaning his forehead against Kino’s shoulder at the feeling of skin against skin. The other wasted no time in moving his hand, and maybe a hand job in the shower wasn’t anything special and maybe it was far from being a new experience for Hui, but it didn’t matter because he was biting back a moan. It felt good, and it felt better still when he looked up and saw the way Kino’s lips parted as he gasped quietly. Kino came first, hips buckling against his hand as he cursed into Hui’s neck. He kept his hand moving, soft whines leaving his lips as he began to feel overstimulated, but when he leaned in to kiss Hui again, it was over. Hui had never been great at keeping quiet, and he couldn’t even be embarrassed about the way he moaned as his legs tensed and his hips jerked against Kino. For a moment, they just stood there, catching their breaths as they came down. 

“Whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with us, Hui,” Kino said quietly, as he washed his torso off. Hui said nothing, watching as Kino finished rinsing himself and stepped out of the shower. He suspected he was stuck. Sure, it didn’t matter how long they’d known each other, because it had been long enough for him to know that both Kino and Shinwon were stubborn. All of his life, he’d been running and avoiding getting too close to anybody for fear of pulling them down with him, but now his life was getting tangled up in others, and as he watched Kino’s silhouette through the glass, he realized that he didn’t mind. 

As he finished cleaning up and stepped out of the shower, he sighed. They still had most of the day left but their options were low, seeing as they were snowed in. Maybe Shinwon and Kino had had the right idea in going to the sex store. He dried himself off and then he frowned at his pile of clothes on the ground. He didn’t want to put them back on after having just cleaned himself. Instead, he reached into the shower to grab the body wash before putting his clothes in the sink and pouring soap over them, letting the sink fill part of the way with water before he started to scrub them. He’d never hand washed his clothes because he always either went to a laundromat or had an in unit washer, but he was fairly certain that washing them in a motel sink with body wash, although not the best mode of action, would still get the job done. When he was satisfied, he let the sink drain, wringing the fabric out before draping them across the top of the shower door. He hoped they’d dry quickly enough and preferably not too wrinkly, but if they wrinkled, he’d survive. 

When he made his way back into the room, he saw Kino sitting cross legged on the edge of the bed as Shinwon sat behind him, fingers fumbling at the hooks and buttons of… what the hell was he even looking at? Kino was clad in a lacy bodysuit and whining because apparently Shinwon’s hands were cold. “Uh…” Hui swallowed hard as his eyes darted between the two. He suddenly regretted the move to wash his clothes and leave them to dry, because it didn’t matter if Shinwon was also naked and Kino was in goddamn lingerie; he felt exposed as his blood rushed south. 

“Told you it’d break him,” Shinwon said, laughing as he finished clasping the suit together.

“What do you think? Does it suit me?” Kino asked, deliberately making his voice drip with innocence as he stood up and gave Hui a huge grin. No, it didn’t suit him. That was far too much of an understatement. It clung to his body in all the right ways and the shade of violet complimented him perfectly. It was made for him and Hui had a little trouble believing that he’d happened to find such a thing at a seedy sex store. Of course, his mind was moving too quick to put that into words. How long had it taken Shinwon to hook all the clasps together and how quickly would he be able to undo them all?

“You’re beautiful,” Hui said.

“Right?” Shinwon said, his tongue darting out to lick his lips. Kino was still within reach and Hui watched as Shinwon moved his hands slowly, letting them rest at Kino’s hips as he gently pulled him back to him. 

“Someone’s eager,” Kino laughed as he turned in Shinwon’s grip to face him. Hui felt his mouth go dry as he watched him climb onto his lap, straddling him. 

“Can you really blame me?”

“No,” Kino’s mouth pulled into a grin as he dipped down to place a soft kiss on Shinwon’s lips. The other chased the kiss when he pulled back, “I don’t think I can. Hui?”

“Don’t mind me-“

“Oh, I’ll mind you all I want, get your ass over here,” Kino said. 

“Are… are you sure?” Hui was mentally kicking himself. He wanted this, and after what had happened in the shower, he really shouldn’t have been so hesitant, but there was a huge difference between a hasty handjob in the shower and a threesome. Hell, it wasn’t like any of them had sat down and had a conversation about any of this, let alone boundaries, but it also wasn’t something Hui had put much thought into in the past. No, in the past, he’d fallen into bed with whoever he wanted whether they planned on paying him or he planned on stealing from them. But now? It didn’t matter if everything else that had happened in the past 24 hours had been impulsive because he found himself wanting to take his time. He wanted it to be as perfect as it could be, and he didn’t want it to be something that the other two would regret later. 

“I wouldn’t have given you a handjob if I wasn’t sure, and I wouldn’t be telling you to get over here either,” Kino said simply.

“Shinwon?”

“I want you. Both of you. Maybe it’s ridiculous or greedy, but I don’t care. Are you gonna keep us waiting, or are you gonna come over here.”

“Maybe he just wants to watch,” Kino purred, reaching up to cup Shinwon’s jaw as he placed another kiss on his lips. Watching wouldn’t be bad. They were hot and Kino’s moves were so calculated that Hui had a hard time believing he was the sheltered son of some rich asshole. Add that with the fact that Shinwon was hard without Kino having laid a finger on him, and all Hui could do was suck in a sharp breath as he felt his resolve crumble. So maybe this was how they’d kill time for the rest of the day. Part of Hui wanted to tell himself to be careful, not to get too attached, but the rest of him knew that he’d been attached since the moment him and Shinwon had clambered into Kino’s car and told him to go. He didn’t believe in God and he wasn’t sure how credible fate was, but as he climbed onto the bed behind Shinwon, he felt like the three of them were meant to meet. Whatever was happening? There might not have been any rhyme or reason to it, but it didn’t matter because it was right. 

“God,” Shinwon whispered, lolling his head to the side when Hui began to kiss his neck. 

“Nope, just me,” Hui laughed, his lips moving across the delicate skin there before he dipped his head down to continue mouthing at his neck. When he chose a spot to begin sucking at, Shinwon let out a whine. It was almost endearing how easily he got worked up, and with Hui on one side of him and Kino on the other, he wondered how long it’d take to unravel him. 

Kino had decided to mouth at the other side of Shinwon’s neck, and Hui reached blindly in front of him to find his hand. Once he had it, he gave it a soft squeeze and pulled at it. He heard Kino hum in understanding as he caught up with what he was doing, and Shinwon didn’t have the time to mentally prepare for both of their hands wrapping around him. His hips jerked against their hands and he let out an unintelligible string of sounds that might have been meant to be words, but it was quickly swallowed by Kino dipping down to kiss his mouth again. 

Hui pulled away from Shinwon’s neck to lean close to Kino. “What should we do with him?” He asked, his voice a whisper. 

“Hm..” Kino pulled away from his lips for long enough to look between him and Hui, pretending like he was putting thought into it, but Hui was almost positive he’d already calculated his next move. “He stays in the middle,” he purred, running a finger along Shinwon’s jaw. The other shivered under him, but made no sound of protest. “I haven’t been fucked properly in far too long, but I also wanna watch him unravel. You game?”

Hui nodded quickly. It’d take some work to find a position that wasn’t uncomfortable for all of them, but the idea of wrecking Shinwon more than he already was was appealing. With how sensitive the other was, he was sure it’d take no time for him and Kino to reduce him to a writhing mess. 

“Perfect,” Kino grinned, and then he was climbing off of Shinwon’s lap and reaching for the bag. Hui watched as the other pulled out multiple questionable items, including but not limited to a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs and a tentacle dildo, before tossing a bottle of lube and box of condoms in the general direction of them. 

“Find anything exciting at the store?” The question was meant to be rhetorical, considering the size of the bag Kino had brought home. He wasn’t sure whether or not he should pity whatever cashier had had to deal with him and his strange assortment of items. It wasn’t like Hui was opposed to kink or anything; he was far from being opposed if he was being honest. It was just that the assortment of items Kino had chosen was very random and mostly seemed to be things he grabbed because they looked pretty. 

“Oh, I got this,” he said, turning back to the bag before pulling out what looked to be a romance novel. The cover of it had two shirtless cowboys on it, both wearing angsty expressions as they looked off in opposite directions in a desert. In the background, the sky was cloudy, but a rainbow arched across it. The title was, and Hui couldn’t help but snicker, Ride Harder. 

“Why the hell d-“

“I asked the same question, but is now really the time?” Shinwon’s voice was almost whiny and Hui couldn’t help but grin. When he’d met him the previous night, Hui had thought he might be able to take the other home and finally have someone destroy him for once, but the other seemed to be about as needy as they came, and maybe Hui was a little bit too excited about the prospect of being one of the people who would wreck him. 

“Right,” Hui said, reaching for the lube. “On your back, then.” 

“What?” Shinwon was staring at him blankly, and Hui held up the lube with raised eyebrows.

“Unless you want me to just dive right in without any lube or prepping?”

“Oh. Oh,” Shinwon nodded, his cheeks flushing as he moved to lay back. He’d just been sandwiched between Hui and Kino while they kissed his neck and jerked him off, and he was choosing now to get flustered? Hui sighed, shaking his head as he moved closer to the other, gently grabbing his thighs and pulling them apart to expose him. For a moment, Hui just sat there, letting his eyes slowly move across Shinwon’s body and taking in every detail of his smooth, pale skin. As badly as he wanted to fuck Shinwon senseless, he licked his lips, his eyes resting on the other’s cock. He wanted to wrap his lips around it and see how quickly the other would unravel beneath him. He wanted to tease the other until he was on the brink of orgasm, only to pull back just before he could meet his release. When he let himself look back up at Shinwon’s eyes, he was staring at him, his face and neck flushed and Hui wasn’t sure if it was due to embarrassment or arousal, but he suspected that it was a combination of the two. 

He clicked open the lube and poured some onto his fingers, coating them in it before tossing the bottle to Kino. The other took it greedily, pouring some onto his own fingers before tossing it to the side. Without waiting for anything more, he was sliding the fabric of his one piece to the side and pushing a finger into himself, sighing softly. Hui swallowed before returning his eyes to Shinwon and remembering what he was supposed to be doing. The other stared back at him expectantly, and Hui licked his lips again before leaning down and catching the other in a kiss. At the same time, he lazily swirled a finger across his entrance, relishing in the way that he quivered beneath his touch. When he finally pushed his finger in, Shinwon broke the kiss to lean his head back, gasping quietly.

As he added another finger, Hui quickly noticed that the other didn’t need much prepping. He looked at him, a question in his eyes, and the other seemed to catch on. 

“When I was in the shower with Kino, he…” Shinwon trailed off, cursing as a finger brushed against his prostate, and Hui couldn’t help but grin. 

He turned to look at Kino, who continued to lazily finger himself as he gazed at them. It was impossible not to notice because he stared in a way that was heavy enough that it was almost the only thing Hui could think about. “What can I say? I try to keep busy. Shinwon’s fun to tease.” 

“Well I think you did more than enough on your own. Why didn’t you tell me?” Hui asked, an eyebrow raised. 

“I wanted to watch you.”

He said it simply and casually, as if he were talking about something completely innocent, and the sweet smile that he gave Hui only turned him on more. 

“I’m ready, though,” he continued, pulling his fingers out and wiping them on a towel.

“You’re keeping that on?”

“Yeah. I like it.” 

“Okay,” Hui said, shaking his head with a sigh. He turned back to face Shinwon, pumping his fingers in a couple more times for good measure before pulling them out and leaning down to press a soft kiss on his lips. Then, he was reaching for the box of condoms, handing one to Shinwon before tearing his own wrapper open and sliding it on. He hissed at the feeling; he’d barely touched himself and he was hard enough that the light feeling of his fingers sent a jolt down his spine. 

Shinwon took a deep breath, eyes darting between Kino and Hui. “I’m going to be completely honest, I don’t think I’ll last long,” he said. 

“As long as you can keep going to help us, you can come whenever you want,” Kino replied, his voice low and sweet. Hui wouldn’t have been surprised if Shinwon could come just from hearing Kino’s voice; the other was raking a hand through his hair willing himself to cool down. “Now get over here and fuck me.”

Shinwon blinked at Kino before nodding, shifting to move so that he was laying behind Kino. Hui watched as he almost daintily pulled the fabric of the bodysuit aside, before gently teasing Kino’s entrance. As he was slowly pushing in, Hui made his way so that he was laying behind him. It wasn’t the most graceful position, and he would have given anything to see the other’s face in that moment, but when Hui found his entrance, he wasn’t slow. He pushed his way all the way in with enough force that he sent Shinwon rocking the rest of the way into Kino. All three of them cursed simultaneously. Hui reached to wrap his arms around Shinwon’s torso as he began moving his hips in a steady rhythm, busying his lips by planting kisses along his back. He had a nice back. Hui liked his back, and although he would have liked to see the way his pretty lips were parted as he gasped, the view wasn’t half bad from where he was. Between the feeling of Shinwon around him and the sound of Kino and him gasping, Hui wasn’t sure how long he’d last either. 

After the initial shock, Shinwon had begun to build a rhythm as well, and from the sounds that Kino was making, he must have been doing a good job. It didn’t take long for Shinwon to let out a gasp, his rhythm breaking as his hips shuttered between them. “I’m,” he began, but his words were lost as he buried his head in Kino’s back, riding out his orgasm. Hui couldn’t help but moan from the way that Shinwon tightened around him, and that in itself was almost enough to push him over the edge. Almost, but not quite. 

For a moment, Shinwon moved slowly, giving himself time to recover, and then he was beginning to rock his hips again. From the quiet whines that were leaving his lips, it was probably too much, but he was true to his word and didn’t seem to have any plans on stopping until Hui and Kino were both finished. The thought of using him like that turned on Hui more than it should have. Usually, he liked being the one who was used, but as he continued moving, he realized that he liked the power he held over Shinwon. He had the sneaking suspicion that the man in front of him would gladly do anything he asked, and he wasn’t used to having that type of control. 

Slowly, Hui moved one of his hands up, ghosting his fingers over one of Shinwon’s nipples before pinching it in his fingers. Two things happened at once. First, Shinwon gasped in front of him, his back arching, and Hui couldn’t help the smile that snaked its way across his lips. At the same time, Kino let out a moan. Without warning, Shinwon was clenching around him again, cursing. Hui felt the heat pooling in him, threatening to spill over, and as Shinwon continued writhing around him, it was enough to send him over the edge. Hui slammed his hips against the other, burying himself completely as he came. He didn’t mean to bite down on Shinwon’s shoulder, but he did and the other was gasping from it. He rolled his hips against Shinwon a couple more times as he came down from the orgasm, and then he was slowly pulling out. 

For a moment, the three of them laid there, accompanied only by the sounds of them breathing. “That was,” Shinwon began to speak, but he trailed off. 

“Amazing?” Kino offered, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah. That,” Shinwon agreed. 

“Hui?” Kino was turning over, propping himself on an elbow to stare at him from across Shinwon. 

“Yeah. Yeah… that was great,” Hui said, nodding quickly. It was, and he wasn’t sure when the last time he had such a good time topping was. There was something about Shinwon and Kino that just pulled him in in all the best ways. He wasn’t sure what they had going for them, but he didn’t care, because if it involved more of this, he’d be the last one to complain. 

“Good. Now can one of you help me unbutton this thing? I can’t reach all of it and I wanna get out of it immediately.”

For a moment, Hui and Shinwon exchanged glances, before they both broke into shaky laughter. Leave it to Kino to wear the hardest damned thing to take off. Hui nodded, taking off his condom and tossing it in the waste bin before moving to sit behind Kino as he began to fiddle with the clasps. As he undid them one by one, he noticed the soft dents they’d left in his skin, and he couldn’t help but trace his finger across them, relishing the way that Kino shivered beneath his touch.

“Careful, because if you get me hard again, it’s your problem to take care of.”

“Seems like the least of my concerns if you ask me,” Hui laughed, but then he was unclamping the rest of it until Kino was finally able to peel it off of him. He sighed, staring at the body suit in his hands for a moment. He’d made a mess of it, and as he turned to make his way past Hui and into the bathroom, Hui couldn’t help but eye the mess on his torso. And just after they’d showered, too. 

Shinwon had stood up to toss out his condom, and now he was peeking through the curtain of their window. “Huh, would you look at that,” he said.

“Hm?”

“A plow’s finally here.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> god my brain was having the hardest time writing this even tho most of my fics end up having smut and idk why so if it’s a hot mess, i am so sorry


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a note that i use they/them pronouns for kino in this chapter so y’all dont get confused!! since his character uses both they and he pronouns, i’m gonna kinda alternate what set of pronouns i use every few chapters lol

The plow had just started on the lot when Shinwon had pulled the curtains of the window open. It was loud as it scraped against the pavement and the ice, and every time it reversed, it beeped loudly. Still, despite the noise, he’d managed to fall asleep, collapsing into the bed as Hui paced around the room. He was tired and he was sore as hell. If he thought there was no going back before, now he knew he was in deep. He’d loved being in between Hui and Kino, and he’d loved listening to their voices and the sound of their breathing as they’d all moved together as if they were one being. There was something hypnotic in it, and the idea of going back to how his life had been Before seemed unthinkable. 

At some point, as he’d been slipping into sleep, Hui had stopped his pacing to lay down next to him, burrowing himself under Shinwon’s arm and nuzzling his face into his chest. Earlier, he’d taken control so naturally, and Shinwon couldn’t deny that he loved the way the other had used him. Now, though, he seemed small. He seemed like something Shinwon wanted to keep close to him and protect at all costs, even if Hui was the last person in their group who needed protecting. He’d been on his own for so long, after all. 

When he woke up next, it was dark outside. Hours must have passed since he’d fallen asleep and he cursed himself for having wasted half the day sleeping as he blearily sat up to look at the clock. It was almost 9 pm, and although Kino was sleeping next to him - he hadn’t even woken up from the other climbing into the bed - Hui was shoving things into the duffel bag they’d taken from Kino’s father’s car. “Wake Kino up. They’ve slept for long enough and we should really get going,” Hui said softly, barely turning around to look at him. 

Shinwon nodded slowly even though Hui couldn’t see him, before turning to reach down and grip Kino’s shoulder, shaking them awake lightly. The other mumbled, swatting his hand away before slowly sitting up and blinking at him with dazed eyes. It was as if they were still caught in a dream and not entirely awake, and their eyes seemed to stare through Shinwon instead of at him. 

“Hui says it’s time to go.”

“Right now?” Kino asked, their voice still slurred with sleep as their eyes darted to the clock with a frown. 

“Yeah. Better to get going now since the lot has been plowed. I don’t wanna get snowed in here again,” Hui said with a sigh.

“Is it safe to drive? I don’t exactly like the idea of getting trapped in a snowstorm either…”

Hui nodded quickly, “I went down to the lobby and asked them to put on the weather. It’s not gonna snow until 3 or 4 am, so we have plenty of time to put some space between ourselves and here.” 

“Alright, then. Who’s driving?”

“I was gonna drive. I’ve rested plenty so I should be fine,” Hui insisted, and that seemed to be convincing enough to Kino as they shrugged before pulling themself out of bed. Shinwon’s eyes followed the other’s body as they moved to pick their clothes off of the ground. The marks that had been left by the body suit on their back had since faded, but Shinwon could still feel a faint pain on the back of his own shoulder from where Hui had bitten him. It was a dull reminder that he probably liked more than what people might consider normal, but it didn’t matter. It was the possessiveness of it, really. Even if it hadn’t been intentional, it felt good to be marked like that. Like he was Hui’s. 

And as he watched Kino pull on their clothes, he found himself hoping that they’d mark him too. 

Shinwon sighed, finally willing himself to get out of bed and get dressed because if he kept sitting there and thinking about Hui and Kino and how good it felt to be between them, he would either have an existential crisis or get hard again, and he frankly didn’t want to deal with either option at the moment. Although he didn’t like the idea of pulling on dirty clothes, he didn’t have other options at the moment. He was just grateful that his pants and socks had dried from the snow earlier, because he was almost certain that he would start crying if he had to go outside in wet socks.

It didn’t take them long to get their things together; other than what Hui had bought from the gas station, they only had the duffle bag, the backpack full of money, and the bag from their trip to  _ Silk Caress.  _ Shinwon laughed to himself as he realized it. 24 hours ago, he’d been sitting in his dorm room, studying for a course that was required by the university, but that he ultimately didn’t care about. 22 hours ago, his roommate had barged into their dorm with two strangers and the scent of alcohol in his breath, and within minutes, he was fighting for his life and very close to being stabbed by a drunk with a knife. A little under 20 hours ago and Hui was approaching him at a bar he’d never stepped foot in until that night.

Thinking about it made his head spin. 20 hours and it felt like a goddamn lifetime. 20 hours and there was absolutely no chance that his life would ever go back to the way it had been Before again. 

Once he was dressed, he picked up the gas can that Hui had left by the door. Hui had the duffle bag— now almost overflowing with the combination of what had already been in it and what Hui had bought— slung over his shoulder. Kino gingerly picked up the black bag from  _ Silk Caress.  _ Then, the three of them were facing the door as if on the other side, stood their certain doom. The motel room, with its mirrored ceilings and stale scent, felt like a safe bubble. The idea of leaving it sent a jolt of fear down his spine. Leaving meant that everything that had happened in the past day was real. Leaving cemented the fact that there  _ really  _ was no return. 

Shinwon sighed, grabbing the doorknob and pushing out into the bitter cold of the night, Hui and Kino behind him. 

“I’m gonna go return our keys. Fill the car up and get it started, okay?” Hui said, resting a gentle hand on Shinwon’s shoulder.

“Aye aye, Cap’n.”

With that, the trio made their ways down the stairs, Hui branching off to make his way towards the lobby while Kino trailed after Shinwon. The parking lot was quiet, and although there weren’t a ton of cars, most of them were covered in snow. “Do you… do you remember where we parked?” Shinwon asked, turning to look at Kino with a nervous laugh.

The other nodded, making a beeline towards a snow covered car parked in the corner of the lot between a couple of pick-up trucks. With an arm, they wiped some of the snow off the trunk before pulling it open and making a satisfied noise as they reached in and pulled out a scraper. “I was hoping whoever’s car this was would have this. I might have cried if they didn’t. Now fill this thing up and I’ll scrape off the windows,” they said, tossing their bag in before slamming the door shut with enough force that it sent a pile of snow falling onto their feet. 

“Ok,” Shinwon sighed, wiping the snow off of the side of the car until he could find the gas cap. They’d been outside for minutes but his hands were already numb as he unscrewed it and lifted the neck of the gas can to it, letting it fill slowly. Kino was on the other side of the car, wiping away snow and seemingly unaffected by the cold. Shinwon wondered how they did that; he was already wiggling his fingers and fidgeting to keep his hands from going numb but Kino was moving like they were part of the winter.

He almost sighed in relief when he finished the can, pulling the trunk open to put it inside in case they filled it again. Then, he pulled open the driver’s door, bending down to pull at the wires from the previous night. They were cold to the touch, and he was grateful that it was easier to get the engine to start the second time around as he fiddled at them until the car lurched to life. He reached to turn on the heat, turning it to full blast and turning on the defrost before peering at the fuel gauge. He wasn’t sure what it’d been at when they’d gotten there the previous night, but whatever was in the can had been enough so that the tank was almost full. Satisfied, he climbed out of the driver’s seat and reached to take the scraper from Kino. 

“Get in the car, I’ll finish up,” he said. The other made a noise of protest, but let go of the scraper before climbing into the back seat. It took him a couple minutes, but he was able to get the remaining ice and snow off of the car, and when he looked up, Hui was making his way towards the car. “All set?”

“Yeah,” Hui was wearing a smile that looked forced. 

“What happened?”

“Don’t worry about it, we’re fine,” he said, and before Shinwon could protest further, he was climbing into the driver’s seat. From Hui’s expression and how quickly he had shut him down, Shinwon could only assume they were anything  _ but  _ fine, but Hui clearly wasn’t going to let the conversation continue. With a sigh, he climbed into the back seat next to Kino.

“I’m still not your fucking chauffeur,” Hui said with a sigh, putting the car in reverse as he backed it out of the spot. There was a hint of a smile on his lips as he met Shinwon’s eyes through the rearview mirror. Snow crunched under the wheels of the car, and although the lot had been plowed enough that they wouldn’t get stuck, their wheels were having trouble sticking on the snow and ice below and it took a lot of maneuvering to get them out of the lot and onto the main road. 

For a while, Hui drove in silence; he hadn’t even bothered to turn on the radio and Kino had quickly fallen back asleep, curled up in themself as they rested their head against the window. Despite how exhausted he was, Shinwon’s mind was restless. He didn’t like the quiet drone of the car and he’d taken to drumming his fingers against his knees, wishing that he could make everything just slow down. 

“I can feel the anxiety radiating off of you,” the sound of Hui’s voice made him jump. “We’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to you,” he said. When they met eyes through the mirror again, Shinwon felt himself relax slightly, but he was still unnerved by the look Hui had worn as they were leaving the motel.

“What happened? Are people looking for me now too? Or you?”

“People are always looking for me,” Hui laughed bitterly, shaking his head. “Nobody’s looking for you, though. It’s not that. I know that you guys heard from the girl at the store about Kino but…” he trailed off, eyes darting to where the other was still asleep. “When you were in the shower yesterday, a cop was knocking on doors. She gave me a missing person poster. They got that close to us, and it doesn’t matter if we were able to hide then because it’s only a matter of time before they find us again…”

Shinwon cursed under his breath, eyes darting to Kino. No doubt that if the other found out, they’d be more freaked out than they already were. “Is that why you wanted to leave tonight?”

From the driver’s seat, Hui nodded. “Mostly. I don’t like sticking in one place for too long even in the best of times.” 

“You said people are looking for you. Why haven’t I seen your face on the news before?”

Hui shrugged. “Although I’m sure I’m on plenty of watchlists for the government, most of the people looking for me are involved in crime. I’ve stolen from some pretty powerful people, but when most of the things I’ve stolen are things they shouldn’t have had in the first place, that makes it pretty hard for them to report me and file something official. Most of the people after me are grunts, but I wouldn’t be surprised if someone had a hit man on the lookout for me at this point.”

“A hit man?”

“Does that scare you?” Hui’s eyes met Shinwon’s through the mirror again.

“It terrifies me,” Shinwon said with a hard swallow. Even so, Hui and Kino were all he had. They knew who he was and they knew what he was running from. The idea of running away from them as well was unthinkable. 

Hui didn’t say anything else in response, simply turning on the radio and scanning it until he found a station that came in clearly. Shinwon sighed, looking between the window and Kino before making up his mind, moving closer to the other and leaning his head against their shoulder. They sighed, and for a moment Shinwon was afraid they might shove him away, but instead, they leaned their head against his. He let himself slip into something that wasn’t quite sleep, losing himself in the drone of the car, of Kino’s breathing, and of Hui’s soft voice as he sang along to the music playing. 

He wasn’t sure how long he laid that way for, only that the droning of the car had stopped and Hui was cursing from the driver’s seat. 

“What happened?”

“I think the engine just died. Can you get it running again?”

Shinwon frowned, before climbing out of the car and meeting Hui in front of the driver’s door. The other was staring at the wires with a frown as if they might hold some sort of mystery, but Shinwon just sighed as he pushed him out of the way. He tried to get the engine to spark to life again, but nothing happened. It wasn’t the wire’s fault, that was for sure. Shaking his head, he sat back up, turning to face Hui.

“How long have we been on the road?”

“About two hours? Enough to get some distance between us and the motel at least, but still…”

“Do you know where we are?”

Hui shrugged.

“So we’re stranded in the middle of nowhere? Great,” Shinwon sighed, pulling himself to his feet with a frown. “What are we supposed to do now?”

“Get a new car?”

“No shit, genius. Where are we gonna find one?” 

Hui didn’t say anything, only lifting his finger to point ahead of them. Shinwon wasn’t sure if it was a miracle from above or pure dumb luck that in the distance, lighting up the night, was a bar. Still, it was cold and he didn’t like the idea of trudging through the snow to a random bar in the middle of nowhere. 

“I’ll wake up Kino,” he said with a sigh.

As it turned out, Kino didn’t need to be woken up. They were already sitting up straight, staring at Shinwon in confusion as he pulled the door open. “What happened?”

“Car’s dead. I can’t fix it, but there’s a bar up the street. Hui seems to think we can get a new car.”

“What time is it?”

“A little after midnight, I think,” Shinwon said, moving to reach for the duffle bag before slinging it over his shoulder. Kino grabbed the backpack and handed Hui a stack of money before unceremoniously shoving his bag of toys in. 

“At least, this way, if someone opens this backpack, they’ll see the tentacle dildo before they see the money,” they said, their lips quirking into a smirk. 

“Shit… what if you’re recognized? Wait,” Shinwon paused, shrugging off his jacket before pulling off the hoodie he wore underneath. The tee shirt he wore was thin, but he could always zip up his jacket. Kino stared at the hoodie as Shinwon handed it to them, pursing their lips before shrugging and pulling it on. It was already oversized on Shinwon, so Kino was practically swimming in it.  _ Cute _ , Shinwon thought to himself, his cheeks heating up as he watched the other pull the hood up. It wasn’t the best in terms of disguise, but it was all they had for the moment. 

“It smells like you…”

“Sorry-“

“No, it’s nice. You smell nice,” they said, nodding before pushing themself out of the car. “So we’re going to the bar? How’s that gonna work if I don’t have my ID?”

“I’ll just tell them our car broke down and that we’re waiting for a tow, if they ask about it,” Hui said. 

Shinwon and Kino exchanged uneasy glances before their gazes returned to Hui, and they both nodded. Like that, the three of them took their things and made their way through the snow and to the bar. 

Although a plow seemed to have been over the road, it had snowed since then and Shinwon could feel the cold seeping through his sneakers. He cursed his shoe choice for the millionth time. His shoes had been the least of his concern when he’d left his dorm, but now he wished he’d put more thought into it. He had plenty of other shoes that would have kept him from ending up with wet and numb toes, but no, he’d had to grab the faded, worn pair of converse. 

As they got closer to the bar, they could pick up the faint sound of music streaming out the door every time it opened. The parking lot wasn’t too full, but there were plenty of cars. None of them looked old enough to hotwire. 

“So what’s our plan?” Shinwon asked the back of Hui’s head as the other continued walking in front of them, seemingly determined. 

“We’re not hotwiring any of these, if that’s what you’re worried about. We’re gonna go inside, you can get yourself a drink, and I’m gonna work some magic.” Hui turned around, this time, flashing Shinwon a dangerous grin. He wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know what Hui’s magic involved. He remembered watching him cheat at cards the previous night and the way it’d sent prickles of unease down his spine, and he was sure whatever Hui’s plan was, it would involve trouble. Then again, it couldn’t possibly be anymore trouble than they already were in. 

With Hui’s words weighing heavily on Shinwon’s mind, the three of them stepped into the door of the bar. As suspected, a bouncer was waiting inside to check their IDs. Hui handed his to the man and Shinwon showed his as well, and then he quickly explained that their car had broken down and they were waiting for a plow, and that Kino didn’t have their ID on them. The bouncer looked Kino up and down, an eyebrow raised in skepticism, but then shrugged and waved the trio past.

Hui led them to the bar, and they each took their seats, keeping Kino in the middle. The other looked small in the oversized hoodie, and even smaller from the way they were sitting. It looked like they were trying to curl into themself. “What’s the matter?” Shinwon asked, letting one of his hands rest on their shoulder.

They shrugged before shaking their head. “It’s nothing,” they said, offering a weak smile, but Shinwon wasn’t convinced. “I’ve never been in a bar before,” they laughed, when it became clear that Shinwon wouldn’t stop worrying. He had the sneaking suspicion that that wasn’t the real reason the other seemed on edge, but he wasn’t going to argue it.

“Really? Wait, how old are you?”

“I just turned twenty this year,” they said, smiling bigger now. “You look terrified. You having second guesses now?”

“No… you just scared me for a minute. I’m 23. If it makes you feel better, though, even though I’ve been legal for a bit longer than you, I can count the amount of times I’ve gone to a bar on one hand, and that’s including right now.” 

“What about Hui?”

They both turned to look at Hui. He was looking through a menu, and he seemed unworried about their situation as his eyes scanned the words. “How many times I’ve been to a bar, or how old I am?” He spoke without looking up.

“Both?”

“Too many times, and 25.”

“You’re 25?” Shinwon fought to keep from shouting as he stared across Kino at Hui. This time, the other looked up from the menu, meeting Shinwon’s eyes before shrugging and laughing. His eyes scrunched into little crescents and his grin was contagious. There was no way in hell he was the oldest of the three of them. He was too cute. Not that Kino wasn’t cute, but they actually looked their age. 

“Yeah, stop looking at me like I need to find a retirement home. I’m only two years older than you.” 

“And like five years older than me,” Kino interjected. “Does that mean we’re dilf hunters?” They met eyes with Shinwon again, and this time they both burst out into laughter.

“I’m not a— you know what, never mind. I’m gonna find myself something to drink and then I’m going to find someone to distract,” Hui said with a sigh, before returning his gaze to the menu again. Shinwon didn’t miss the smile that was still ghosting Hui’s lips though, because even if he wanted to be exasperated with them, he couldn’t. He was in too deep.

Shinwon felt it too— whatever it was. At some point in the past 24 hours, he’d opened his soul completely to two strangers and the thought of being around anyone else seemed strange. Sure, things were a mess for the three of them collectively, but he also had the strongest feeling that he was meant to be there, in that shitty bar with them at half past midnight with a dead car outside. 

Shinwon held up a hand to get the bartender’s attention before asking for a glass of water. Kino looked at him with a raised eyebrow, a laugh ghosting their lips.

“Last night was a rare occurrence. Like I said, I don’t usually go to bars. I don’t like alcohol,” he explained.

“Really?”

“I don’t like how it tastes, and I hate feeling drunk. I think last night was maybe the second or third time in my life that I’ve genuinely gotten drunk,” he said as he reached for the glass the bartender placed in front of him, taking a greedy gulp of the water. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he was, but as soon as it hit his lips, he became hyper aware of how dry his mouth was. 

“I’ve never been drunk before, but I like wine a lot. I think the bartender might look at me weird if I ordered a glass of wine, though. Besides, it’s not like I can since I don’t have my ID.”

“To be fair, you probably couldn’t if you had your ID since you’re… you know… missing,” Shinwon said, laughing weakly. Kino nodded, the same frown they’d been wearing earlier returning to their lips. “Sorry, I can talk about something else if you want. I shouldn’t have brought that up—“

“No, no it’s fine. I’ll survive… hopefully.” They gestured for the bartender again, asking for a cider. The man nodded, filling a glass for them without so much as a second glance. “Thank you,” Kino said softly as they reached for the glass. For a moment, the pair was quiet, letting the drone of people around them and the music soothe their senses. 

Shinwon hadn’t seen when Hui walked away from the bar, but he noticed with a start that the other was gone. He blinked, looking around in confusion until he found him at a tall table, speaking animatedly to a man who was built enough that it looked like he’d survive getting hit by a car. Despite his intimidating figure, the stranger was grinning at Hui, seeming to eat up whatever he was telling him. 

Shinwon felt a pang of jealousy at the way the man was staring at Hui, and when the shorter stood on his toes and placed a deliberate kiss on the stranger’s lips, it didn’t do anything to make the jealousy go away. Then again, Shinwon had known Hui for a day, and whatever had developed between the two of them and Kino hadn’t been discussed. He certainly didn’t have any claim on Hui. 

“Shinwon, look,” Kino’s voice broke him from his daze. The other was gesturing to where Hui was  _ still  _ kissing the stranger, and that was when Shinwon noticed his hands closing around the stranger’s keys, quietly pulling them off of the table and pocketing them. 

“Idiot, I can’t believe that worked,” Shinwon muttered, looking away as Hui pulled back from the man. 

“I can’t believe that not a single asshole is in the bar currently, because I’m sure he knows the risks of… whatever the hell that was,” Kino said. They were still staring over at the pair, seemingly transfixed, and Shinwon could see them walking past them out of the corner of his eye.

He tried his best not to react when he felt a hand sliding into his pocket or the feeling of keys poking into his thigh. When he finally let himself look up, he saw a final glimpse of Hui pulling the stranger into the bathroom. 

He turned, meeting Kino’s eyes, and he didn’t see even the slightest hint of jealousy from the other. Maybe he was just blowing things out of proportion and reading more into it than he had to. It was either that, or Kino just didn’t have a jealous bone in their body. Their eyes were lingering on the door, curiosity sparking through them, and for a moment, Shinwon thought they might get up and join Hui and his new friend in the bathroom, but instead they lifted their glass to their lips. 

They didn’t have to wait long. Less than five minutes passed before Hui was walking out of the bathroom with what he’d done written all over him. His cheeks were flushed somewhat and his lips were swollen from more than kissing; the pants he wore were tight enough that they did nothing to hide how hard he was, but he said nothing as he tossed enough money on the bar to cover their drinks. He hooked his arms around Kino and Shinwon’s before silently guiding them to the door. 

“Have fun with that guy?” Kino asked, a smile snaking across their lips as they looked at Hui. 

“I might have gotten a bit carried away,” Hui said with a shrug. 

Shinwon sighed, rolling his eyes at the exchange before fishing the keys out of his pocket. They had one of those keychains that tracked them attached, so he slid it off of them, tossing it onto the pavement before clicking the lock button, eyes scanning the lot for a car lighting up. When he found the car in question, he immediately began to make his way to it without looking back to see if the other two were following. Although he didn’t like driving, there was no way he was letting either of the other two behind the wheel of the white car in front of him. It was sleek and despite it being winter and gross outside, the metal gleamed. 

He tried not to think too hard as he climbed into the driver's seat. Although Hui had been the one to steal the keys, he was the one about to drive the car away. It was a nice car, but from how drunk the owner had seemed, he wasn’t entirely sure the other would notice it was missing right away. If anything, he’d probably take an uber home, realizing his mistake when he woke up with a hangover and no car keys. 

He tossed the duffle bag into the passenger seat because he knew both Kino and Hui would opt to sit in the back seat. Usually, the back seat would mean sleep, but from the glint in Kino’s eyes as they climbed in followed by Hui, Shinwon suspected that sleep was the last thing on either of their minds.

He shoved the keys into the ignition and the vehicle stirred to life, heat already turned on and music on full blast. The music would have to change for Shinwon’s sanity, because the station it was currently tuned to was blaring bubblegum hits. He fiddled with the radio for a moment; it was touch screen, and he would have been overwhelmed if it weren’t for the fact that his sister had almost the exact same setup in her car. 

His sister. 

His hand froze over the screen as it slowly sunk in. In the space of 24 hours, he’d killed his roommate and run off with a kid who’d stolen their dad’s car and a guy who was on the run from who knows how many people. The idea of seeing his sister again— or anyone else in his family for that matter— seemed impossible. In the span of 24 hours, his world had dwindled down to two complete strangers. He hadn’t bothered to grab his phone or leave a note. He wondered if his friends or family had realized he was missing yet, but he was a bad texter on a good day; not hearing from him for days was common, and he had the sinking realization that nobody would realize he was gone until they discovered his roommate’s corpse rotting in front of their television. 

_ He was never aggressive. It’s not like him.  _ The excuses his friends and family made for him would mean nothing when his fingerprints were all over his roommate’s body. He wondered if they’d find the knife that had been pointed at him, the one that left a gash on his face that  _ still  _ stung. He wondered if it’d be enough to show he’d been defending himself, or if at the end of the day it didn’t matter. 

As he slowly backed the car out of its spot, he realized that it  _ didn’t  _ matter. He’d run away, which made him guilty enough, but for all he knew, Kino’s father would try to spin it so that he and Hui had abducted his child so that he didn’t have to admit that he was a piece of shit parent. And if that didn’t happen, then one of the many people after Hui would catch up to them. He was a goner through and through. 

His eyes caught on Kino leaning in to whisper something in Hui’s ear in the rear view mirror. How were they able to do that? How were they able to pretend that in the span of 24 hours, the world hadn’t completely fallen apart? Or maybe they  _ were _ just as terrified as he was, and just looking for a distraction. A distraction would have been nice right about then, because as Shinwon pulled out onto the main road, speeding away from the bar, he felt himself spiraling more and more with each breath. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as always, comments are appreciated!!! u can also yell at me in my twitter dms (@mcshinwon) or on my cc (@huihaw)


	8. Chapter 8

Kino couldn’t think. They’d spent the majority of the car ride feigning sleep while their mind had sped on nonstop, and just when they’d finally fallen asleep, Shinwon was telling them the car had broken down. They’d heard Hui and Shinwon talking earlier, and it didn’t matter if they had avoided suspicion for the moment because there were people  _ looking  _ for them. Seeing and hearing about it on the news was one thing, but a cop handing out fliers and questioning random people at a motel in the middle of nowhere was something completely different. They’d spent the past few hours panicking as they tried to figure out what exactly that meant for them and for Hui and Shinwon, but now that they were in another car speeding away from the bar, they weren’t going to think about it anymore. 

They needed a distraction and Hui was sitting next to them trying to pretend that he wasn’t rock solid from giving a stranger a blowjob in the bar’s bathroom. They might have been a little jealous, but at the same time, part of them was turned on by it. They knew it was all a ploy to distract the stranger from the fact that he’d just stolen his keys, but that stranger was attractive as hell and Kino wouldn’t have minded having a ticket to see  _ that  _ show. 

So when they leaned in and asked Hui if they’d taste the stranger on his lips if they kissed him, it was over. Hui was closing the distance between them in an instant, and Kino was satisfied to discover that they  _ could _ taste the stranger. Maybe they should have been grossed out—most people would have been grossed out in that situation right? If anything, it only made them kiss him deeper, pushing their tongue into his mouth as if to say  _ you’re mine _ . 

They’d known Hui for a total of one day, but they were already claiming him. They couldn’t help it. He was too tempting and even if he seemed like the one with the most control, Kino wanted to make him  _ theirs.  _ Shinwon too, but they had the feeling Shinwon was already completely wrapped around their finger. 

Kino shot a glance at Shinwon without breaking their kiss with Hui. He was sitting in the front seat, trying his best not to eye the pair of them in the rearview mirror, but when he met Kino’s eyes he betrayed himself. He was stuck in a position where he couldn’t do anything but drive, and Kino was having a little bit too much fun drawing the moment out. They pulled off of Hui’s lips only to begin kissing his neck, their eyes staying on Shinwon’s the whole time. 

“You should be watching the road, Shinwon—“ Hui said, but the end of the sentence cut into a gasp when Kino bit down on his neck, sucking on the tender skin there. He hissed, snaking a hand into Kino’s hair. 

“That’s easy for you to say,” he said, sighing as he trained his eyes on the road again. Kino didn’t miss the way he reached out, turning up the volume on the radio as he tried to ignore the show he was missing out on. 

Kino let go of Hui’s neck with a soft pop before moving lower, tugging at the zipper of his trousers. Hui leaned his head back, letting out a soft sigh at the feeling of the zipper moving over him and Kino couldn’t help but smile. He was so sensitive that there was no way he’d last very long. There was a dark spot on the fabric of his briefs from where precum was already leaking from his head and Kino gently kissed the fabric, reveling in the way Hui twitched under it. Then, they were reaching past the folds of the fabric and wrapping their hand around him. 

“Shit,” Hui whispered, letting his head drop back as Kino ran their thumb around his slit.

“Mm, you’re so wet baby. I’m impressed you didn’t come just from sucking off that guy at the bar,” Kino purred, putting their thumb to their lips and licking it clean. Hui stared at them with wide eyes, his breath hitching as he watched Kino move their tongue and Kino couldn’t help but laugh softly. Hui was making this too easy. 

“If he was any rougher with me, I might have,” Hui managed. “He was practically fucking my face in there, and he was big too. Damn lucky I don’t have a gag re—“ his sentence cut off as Kino dipped down, wrapping their lips around him without warning. 

His skin was slick with precum already and as Kino moved their tongue around his head, more continued to well up. It was bitter and sweet and they couldn’t get enough of it, especially from the noises that Hui made above them as he tangled his fingers in their hair. They prodded his slit with their tongue, relishing in the way Hui gasped, before going down all the way on him. 

Hell, the way Hui felt in their mouth was enough to drive them mad as they bobbed their head. If tasting the stranger on his lips hadn’t been enough to turn them on, then tasting  _ him _ was. They could only imagine the restraint Shinwon had in the front seat. Was he jealous? Probably. Kino would have been if they were the one stuck driving in that moment. Was he mad? Kino didn’t think so. 

Sure, 24 hours was barely enough time to get to know someone, but they had the creeping suspicion that Shinwon had hard lines and wouldn’t hesitate to draw them any time he saw fit. Kino met his eyes in the mirror as they began bobbing their head. Shinwon licked his lips, his eyes darting back to the road, but Kino didn’t miss the way one of his hands had slipped off of the steering wheel. Maybe he didn’t have as much restraint as Kino previously thought. 

Hui whined when Kino pulled off of him without warning, but their eyes were still on Shinwon’s. “Don’t touch yourself,” they said. Their voice left no room for negotiation, but a noise of frustration still left Shinwon’s throat as his hand came to a rest on the steering wheel.

“Why not? You can’t expect me to just watch you guys—“

“Don’t watch us then. All I’m saying is that it’ll feel really good for like a few seconds but then you’ll have to keep driving in your cum-soaked pants until we find a hotel.”

From the front seat, Shinwon sighed, but both of his hands stayed on the steering wheel. “This is hell.”

“Maybe, but I think you’re enjoying it.”

Shinwon had nothing to say in response to that, and Kino turned back to face Hui with a victorious grin. 

“Now where were we,” they whispered as they leaned in to give Hui another soft peck on the lips before lowering their head to his cock again. Their lips were barely around him when Hui tangled his hands in their hair, moving their head as if it were his to use. Hyunggu might have scolded anyone else, but they liked the way it felt with Hui. They liked letting him use them like that, and maybe it was because they knew that without a doubt, Hui would just as quickly let them use him. 

And Shinwon? Shinwon was theirs for the taking. He was restraining himself quietly in the front seat all because Kino had told him to. They’d make it up to him later because that was all they knew how to do anymore. 

Maybe sex wouldn’t solve any of their problems, but it didn’t hurt either. It was an escape, and one that Kino had readily dove into because everything else slipped away around them; all that mattered was their pleasure and the pleasure of their lovers. Maybe their drive was high, but it didn’t matter because for once, they’d seemed to have found people who could keep up with them. Sure, the situation was anything from ideal, but the last thing Kino wanted to do was to let go of either of them. 

From the way that Hui was gasping above them, he was getting close. Kino reached up, tugging at one of his wrists until he let go of their head, and then they continued bobbing their head, wrapping a hand around him and stroking him in time. No amount of turning up the music could drown out the slick noises that they were making as they continued to move, and when Kino pulled up almost all the way, swirling their tongue around his head, it was over. 

“Kino, I’m gonna cum—“ Hui warned, and then he was pushing Kino all the way down onto him, gasping as he shot his release down their throat. They moaned around him as they struggled to swallow his load, and they realized moments too late that everything they’d had burning in them was about to boil over, and that no amount of restraint would save them. 

No sooner than Hui’s grip on their hair had relaxed, they were climbing into his lap, pressing themself against him as they kissed him. Hui made a sound of surprise, but just as quickly leaned into the kiss, his tongue pressing into his mouth as if to make sure he’d swallowed everything. It was more than enough, and Kino moaned into the kiss as they came, their hips bucking against Hui wildly. When they pulled back from the kiss, they laughed weakly.

“What was that about?” Hui asked, breathless as he stared at them. He had absolutely no idea, and they couldn’t help but laugh harder.

“Shinwon wasn’t the one we shoulda worried about,” he said by way of an answer. Hui arched an eyebrow and Kino could hear Shinwon snort in the front seat. 

“I coulda told you that. I better not have to listen to you whine about it though.”

“You won’t,” Kino said, pulling themself off of Hui’s lap before unlacing their boots. They kicked them off before fiddling with the zipper of their pants and then shimmying out of them. 

“What are you doing?” 

“Getting rid of the problem. Shinwon, roll down the window back here really quick,” Kino said, hooking their thumbs through the waistband of their briefs before pulling them off. They wiped themself off with the dry part of the fabric, and then they crumpled it up before tossing it out into the night.

“Wow. How innovative,” Shinwon said dryly. 

“Thanks. Innovation is my middle name,” they said as they pulled their pants back on. They were thankful that they were one of the softer pairs of jeans they owned and that the fabric was worn enough that it wasn’t too uncomfortable, but they hoped that they could find a store and get some clean clothes soon. Maybe their hotel would be by a mall or something. 

They could feel the exhaustion beginning to creep on them, and they welcomed it. If sex was a good distraction, then sleep was an even better one. When they leaned their head against Hui’s shoulder, the other readily wrapped an arm around them, holding them closer. It wasn’t long until sleep found them and they drifted into an in between place where they couldn’t quite dream and were still aware of the drone of the radio and the salt and snow crunching under the car’s wheels.

* * *

When Kino woke up it was to the cold air hitting their body as a car door opened, and then someone picking them up. They shivered before leaning their head into the person’s chest, wanting to go back to sleep, but it was  _ cold _ . The wind bit at their face and they could feel snow drifting down and clumping on their eyelashes. They listened to the sound of someone else shutting the car door and then the sounds of snow crunching under feet as they were carried away from the car. 

“Do you think it’s enough?” Shinwon’s voice came.

“I hope so. We’re a long ways away now. We should be able to lay low here for a few days, and at the rate this snow is coming down, we might not have much of a choice,” Hui said in response, his voice distant as he walked in front of them. Kino listened as Hui pushed open a door, and then they were enveloped in warmth as they made their way down a hallway. It must have been an actual hotel this time. 

For a while, neither Shinwon or Hui said anything and all Kino heard was their quiet footsteps on the carpeted floor. Then, they felt Shinwon stop walking and heard Hui sigh in front of them. 

“I’m sorry,” he said softly.

“For what?” Shinwon sounded genuinely confused, and Kino felt his grip on them tighten.

Another sigh. “If I upset you earlier. With that guy at the bar and with Kino. We’re stuck together, so the last thing I should do is cause problems.”

Shinwon laughed, the sound reverberating through his chest. “That’s why you’ve seemed so sullen? I’ve known you for a day, Hui. I’m the last person to have a claim on you.”

“So… you weren’t jealous?”

“I never said that.”

“Then I’m sorry.”

“You can make it up to me, then.” 

“How?”

“Make me yours.” There was a challenge in Shinwon’s voice that was enough to send a shiver down Kino’s spine.  _ Make me yours.  _

When Hui laughed, Kino felt something twist in their chest. “I don’t have to do that, Shinwon. You’re already mine.”

Shinwon held onto Kino tighter, but he didn’t say anything else in response before he began walking again. Kino registered the faint beep and click of a door unlocking as Hui scanned a key card, and Shinwon was making his way into the room. “Pull the covers back for me?”

“Already on it,” Hui said, and Kino listened to the rustle of fabric before they felt Shinwon gently lay them onto the bed. The pillows were soft and fluffy and whatever blanket Shinwon was pulling over Kino’s shoulders was much softer than what they’d had the previous night. They let themself get tucked in, relishing in the comfort of the bed and feeling sleep beginning to creep back up on them. 

For a while, Hui and Shinwon were both quiet. Kino was aware of the sound of one of them clicking off the lights and the sound of one or both of them tugging off layers. They felt the bed dip on either side as they both climbed in, fitting themselves around them as if they belonged there. Maybe they did. Wouldn’t that have been a lovely thought?

“Are you okay, Shinwon?” Hui’s voice was soft, his face close enough to Kino that they could feel his breath on their ear. 

“No,” Shinwon said after a long moment. He laughed weakly and Kino felt him shake his head against their shoulder. “Are any of us okay?”

“Fair point, but you can talk to me, you know? You don’t have to bottle it all up.”

“I don’t know, I just…” Shinwon sighed, “Yesterday felt like a dream. Not necessarily a good one, but none of it felt real. Since I left, I’ve just sorta felt like I’ve been walking through a place that doesn’t really exist. But little by little, it’s been sinking in. I think I’m handling everything alright, and then something little reminds me of home or of my family and I just—“ he paused as he took in a shaky breath, “I won’t see them again, Hui. I never even got to say goodbye to anyone. They don’t even know I’m gone.”

Kino didn’t have to open their eyes to know Shinwon was crying. They might not have felt his tears on their skin, but they could tell from the way his breath hitched and caught and the way his heart beat against his chest. They rolled so that they were facing him, taking his hands in theirs before opening their eyes and meeting his wordlessly. They didn’t have any words to comfort him, but they wanted to show him they cared in any way that they could. Their heart broke for him.

They’d run away from their family and from everything they’d known and it was their choice. They hadn’t asked to get kicked out, but as soon as it had happened, they wasted no time in getting as far away as they could. Their family had shown them where they stood and it wasn’t on their side. Shinwon didn’t have a choice. 

Kino didn’t know how close Shinwon was with his family or if he would even open up about it, but it was clear that he felt guilty about a lot more than just his roommate. He had a family who cared about him as much as he cared about them, and now his chances of seeing them had dwindled away. Whatever life he’d built for himself was in shambles. 

The three of them were quiet and the only sounds were Shinwon’s shaky breathing and the whirr of the heater. Kino didn’t let go of Shinwon’s hands, not even when his breathing evened out as he slipped into sleep. He might have been Hui’s, but he was just as much theirs and they were going to hold him as close as they possibly could. It was all they could do, and they hoped it was enough to provide some comfort. 

When they finally fell asleep, Kino dreamt of a long road that cut through a desert like a knife. There was nothing for miles but a stretch of dirt and sand, with clouds that hung on the horizon like a taunt, but they didn’t care. All that mattered were the two men in the car with them as they sped down the freeway with euphoria running through their veins. When they stood up in their seat, Hui and Shinwon’s hands were there to steady them, and when Kino screamed into the nothingness, they screamed along with them. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is kinda a hot mess but lemme know what you think 


End file.
